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BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 



BOOKS BY GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL 
Published by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

Blackfeet Indian Stories. Illustrated. 

i2mo, net $i.oo 

Beyond the Old Frontier. Illustrated. 

i2mo, . net $1.50 

Trails of the Pathfinders. Illustrated. 

i2mo, w^/ $1.50 

Blackfoot Lodge Tales. The Story 

of a Prairie People. i2mo, net $1.75 

Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales. 

Illustrated. i2mo, . . . net $1.75 




^^^ 



Cold Maker 



BLACKFEET 
INDIAN STORIES 



BY 
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL 

AUTHOR OF 
ILACKFEET LODGE TALES," "TRAILS OF THE PATHFINDERS," ETC. 



NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

1913 



Copyright, 1913, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



Published September, 1913 




A^ 






'CI.A354155 



TO THE READER 

Those who wish to know something about 
how the people hved who told these stories 
will find their ways of life described in the last 
chapter of this book 

The Blackfeet were hunters, traveUing from 
place to place on foot. They used implements 
of stone, wood, or bone, wore clothing made of 
skins, and lived in tents covered by hides. 
Dogs, their only tame animals, were used as 
beasts of burden to carry small packs and drag 
light loads. 

The stories here told come down to us from 
very ancient times. Grandfathers have told 
them to their grandchildren, and these again 
to their grandchildren, and so from mouth to 
mouth, through many generations, they have 
reached our time. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Two Fast Runners 1 

The Wolf Man 3 

KijT-o-Yis', THE Blood Boy 10 

The Dog and the Root Digger 34 

The Camp of the Ghosts 40 

The Buffalo Stone 50 

How THE Thunder Pipe Came 53 

Cold Maker's Medicine 60 

The All Comrades Societies 68 

the bulls society 68 

the other societies 76 

The First Medicine Lodge -87 

The Buffalo-Painted Lodges 107 

Mika'pi — Red Old Man 114 

Red Robe's Dream 130 

vii 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Blackfeet Creation 145 

Old Man Stories 156 

the wonderful bird 157 

the rabbits* medicine 159 

the lost elk meat 162 

the rolling rock 164 

bear and bullberries 167 

the theft from the sun 172 

the smart woman chief 175 

bobcat and birch tree 180 

the red-eyed duck 185 

The Ancient Blackfeet 189 



VIU 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 



Blackfeet Indian Stories 



TWO FAST RUNNERS 

ONCE, a long time ago, the antelope and 
the deer happened to meet on the prai- 
rie. They spoke together, giving each other 
the news, each telling what he had seen and 
done. After they had talked for a time the 
antelope told the deer how fast he could run, 
and the deer said that he could run fast too, 
and before long each began to say that he could 
run faster than the other. So they agreed that 
they would have a race to decide which could 
run the faster, and on this race they bet their 
galls. When they started, the antelope ran 
ahead of the deer from the very start and won 
the race and so took the deer's gall. 

But the deer began to grumble and said, 
"Well, it is true that out here on the prairie 

1 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

you have beaten me, but this is not where I 
Hve. I only come out here once in a while to 
feed or to cross the prairie when I am going 
somewhere. It would be fairer if we had a race 
in the timber. That is my home, and there I 
can run faster than you. I am sure of it." 

The antelope felt so glad and proud that he 
had beaten the deer in the race that he was 
sure that wherever they might run he could 
beat him, so he said, *'A11 right, I will run you 
a race in the timber. I have beaten you out 
here on the flat and I can beat you there." On 
this race they bet their dew-claws. 

They started and ran this race through the 
thick timber, among the bushes, and over fallen 
logs, and this time the antelope ran slowly, for 
he was afraid of hitting himself against the trees 
or of falling over the logs. You see, he was not 
used to this kind of travelling. So the deer 
easily beat him and took his dew-claws.. 

Since that time the deer has had no gall and 
the antelope no dew-claws. 



THE WOLF MAN 

ALONG time ago there was a man who 
had two wives. They were not good 
women; they did not look after their home 
nor try to keep things comfortable there. If 
the man brought in plenty of buffalo cow skins 
they did not tan them well, and often when 
he came home at night, hungry and tired after 
his hunting, he had no food, for these women 
w^ould be away from the lodge, visiting their 
relations and having a good time. 

The man thought that if he moved away 
from the big camp and lived alone where there 
were no other people perhaps he might teach 
these women to become good; so he moved his 
lodge far off on the prairie and camped at the 
foot of a high butte. 

Every evening about sundown the man used 
to climb up to the top of this butte and sit 
there and look all over the country to see where 

3 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

the buffalo were feeding and whether any ene- 
mies were moving about. On top of the hill 
there was a buffalo skull, on which he used to 
sit. 

One day one of the women said to the other, 
"It is very lonely here; we have no one to talk 
with or to visit." 

*'Let us kill our husband," said the other; 
"then we can go back to our relations and 
have a good time." 

Early next morning the man set out to hunt, 
and as soon as he was out of sight his wives 
went up on top of the butte where he used to 
sit. There they dug a deep hole and covered it 
over with light sticks and grass and earth, so 
that it looked like the other soil near by, and 
placed the buffalo skull on the sticks which 
covered the hole. 

In the afternoon, as they watched for their 
returning husband, they saw him come over 
the hill loaded down with meat that he had 
killed. When he threw down his load outside 
the lodge, they hurried to cook something for 
him. After he had eaten he went up on the 

4 



THE WOLF M.\N 

butte and sat down on the skull. The slender 
sticks broke and he fell into the hole. His 
wives were watching him, and when they saw 
him disappear, they took down the lodge and 
packed their dogs and set out to go to the 
main camp. As they drew near it, so that 
people could hear them, they began to cry and 
mourn. 

Soon some people came to meet them and 
said, "What is this? Why are you mourning? 
Where is your husband?" 

"Ah," they replied, "he is dead. Five days 
ago he went out to hunt and he did not come 
back. What shall we do? We have lost him 
who cared for us"; and they cried and mourned 
again. 

Now, when the man fell into the pit he was 
hurt, for the hole was deep. After a time he 
tried to climb out, but he was so badly bruised 
that he could not do so. He sat there and 
waited, thinking that here he must surely die 
of hunger. 

But travelling over the prairie was a wolf 
that climbed up on the butte and came to the 

5 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

hole and, looking in, saw the man and pitied 
him. 

" Ah-h-w-o-o-o ! Ah-h-w-o-o-o-o ! " he howled, 
and when the other wolves heard him they all 
came running to see what was the matter. Fol- 
lowing the big wolves came also many coyotes, 
badgers, and kit-foxes. They did not know 
what had happened, but they thought perhaps 
there was food here. 

To the others the wolf said, "Here in this 
hole is what I have found. Here is a man who 
has fallen in. Let us dig him out and we will 
have him for our brother." 

All the wolves thought that this talk was 
good, and they began to dig, and before very 
long they had dug a hole down almost to the 
bottom of the pit. 

Then the wolf who had found the man said, 
''Hold on; wait a little; I want to say a few 
words." All the animals stopped digging and 
began to listen, and the wolf said, "We will all 
have this man for our brother; but I found him, 
and so I think he ought to live with us big 
wolves." All the others thought that this was 

6 



THE WOLF MAN 

good, and the wolf that had found the man 
went into the hole that had been dug, and tear- 
ing down the rest of the earth, dragged out the 
poor man, who was now almost dead, for he 
had neither eaten nor drunk anything since he 
fell in the hole. They gave the man a kidney 
to eat, and when he was able to walk the big 
wolves took him to their home. Here there 
was a very old blind wolf who had great power 
and could do wonderful things. He cured the 
man and made his head and his hands look like 
those of a wolf. The rest of his body was not 
changed. 

In those days the people used to make holes 
in the walls of the fence about the enclosure 
into which they led the buffalo. They set 
snares over these holes, and when wolves and 
other animals crept through them so as to get 
into the pen and feed on the meat they were 
caught by the neck and killed, and the people 
used their skins for clothing. 

One night all the wolves went down to the 
pen to get meat, and when they had come close 
to it, the man-wolf said to his brothers, ''Stop 

7 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

here for a little while and I will go down and 
fix the places so that you will not be caught." 
He went down to the pen and sprung all the 
snares, and then went back and called the 
wolves and the others — the coyotes, badgers, and 
kit-foxes — and they all went into the pen and 
feasted and took meat to carry home to their 
families. In the morning the people found the 
meat gone and all their snares sprung, and they 
were surprised and wondered how this could 
have happened. For many nights the nooses 
were pulled tight and the meat taken; but once 
when the wolves went there to eat they found 
only the meat of a lean and sickly bull. Then 
the man-wolf was angry, and he cried out like 
a wolf, "Bad-food-you-give-us-o-o-o! Bad-food- 
you-give-us-o-o-o-o ! " 

When the people heard this they said to one 
another, *'Ah, it is a man-wolf who has done 
all this. We must catch him." So they took 
down to the piskun^ pemmican and nice back 
fat and placed it there, and many of them hid 



* A pen or enclosure, usually — among the Blackfeet — at the foot of a 
cliff, over which the buffalo were induced to jump. Pronounced pi'skun. 



THE WOLF MAN 

close by. After dark the wolves came, as was 
their custom, and when the man-wolf saw the 
good food, he ran to it and began to eat. Then 
the people rushed upon him from every side 
and caught him with ropes, and tied him and 
took him to a lodge, and when they had brought 
him inside to the light of the fire, at once they 
knew who it was. They said, '*Why, this is 
the man who was lost." 

"No," said the man, "I was not lost. My 
wives tried to kill me. They dug a deep hole 
and I fell into it, and I was hurt so badly I 
could not get out; but the wolves took pity on 
me and helped me or I would have died there." 

When the people heard this they were angry, 
and they told the man to do something to 
punish these women. 

"You say well," he replied; "I give those 
women to the punishing society. They know 
what to do." 

After that night the two women were never 
seen again. 



9 



KtJT-0-YlS', THE BLOOD BOY 

AS the children whose ancestors came from 
Europe have stories about the heroes who 
killed wicked and cruel monsters — like Jack the 
Giant Killer, for example — so the Indian chil- 
dren hear stories about persons who had magic 
power and who went about the world destroy- 
ing those who treated cruelly or killed the In- 
dians of the camps. Such a hero was Kut-o- 
yis', and this is how he came to be alive and 
to travel about from place to place, helping the 
people and destroying their enemies. 

It was long, long ago, down where Two Med- 
icine and Badger Rivers come together, that an 
old man lived with his wife and three daughters. 
One day there came to his camp a young man, 
good-looking, a good hunter, and brave. He 
stayed in the camp for some time, and when- 
ever he went hunting he killed game and 
brought in great loads of meat. 

10 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

All this time the old man was watching him, 
for he said in his heart, "This seems a good 
young man and a good hunter. Perhaps I 
will give him my daughters for wives, and then 
he will stay here and help me always." 

After a time the old man decided to do this, 
and he gave the young man his daughters; and 
because these three were his only children he 
gave his son-in-law his dogs and all his property, 
and for himself and his wife he kept only a 
little lodge. The young man's wives tanned 
plenty of cow skins and made a big fine lodge, 
and in this the son-in-law lived with his wives. 

For some time after this the son-in-law was 
very good and kind to the old people. When he 
killed any animal he gave them part of the 
meat, and gave them skins which his mother- 
in-law tanned for robes or for clothing. 

As time went on the son-in-law began to grow 
stingy, and pretty soon he gave nothing to his 
father-in-law's lodge, but kept everything for 
his own. 

Now, the son-in-law was a person of much 
mysterious power, and he kept the buffalo hid- 

11 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

den under a big log-jam in the river. When- 
ever he needed food and wished to kill anything, 
he would take his father-in-law with him to 
help. He w^ould send the old man out to stamp 
on the log- jam and frighten the buffalo, and 
when they ran out from under it the young 
man would shoot one or two with his arrows, 
never killing more than he needed. But often 
he gave the old people nothing at all to eat. 
They were hungry all the time, and at length 
they began to grow thin and weak. 

One morning early the young man asked his 
father-in-law to come and hunt with him. They 
went to the log- jam and the old man drove 
out the buffalo and his son-in-law killed a fat 
buffalo cow. Then he said to his father-in-law, 
*' Hurry back now to the camp and tell your 
daughters to come and carry home the meat, 
and then you can have something to eat." The 
old man set out for the camp, thinking, as he 
walked along, "Now, at last, my son-in-law has 
taken pity on me; he will give me some of this 
meat." 

When he returned with his daughters they 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

skinned the cow and cut it up and, carrying it, 
went home. The young man had his wives 
leave the meat at his own lodge and told his 
father-in-law to go home. He did not give him 
even a little piece of the meat. The two older 
daughters gave their parents nothing to eat, 
but sometimes the youngest one had pity on 
them and took a piece of meat and, when she 
could, threw it into the lodge to the old people. 
The son-in-law had told his wives not to give 
the old people anything to eat. Except for 
the good heart of the youngest daughter they 
would have died of hunger. 

Another day the son-in-law rose early in the 
morning and went over to the old man's lodge 
and kicked against the poles, calling to him, 
"Get up now and help me; I want you to go 
and stamp on the log- jam to drive out the buf- 
falo." When the old man moved his feet on 
the jam and a buffalo ran out, the son-in-law 
was not ready for it, and it passed by him be- 
fore he shot the arrow; so he only wounded 
it. It ran away, but at last it fell down and 
died. 

13 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

The old man followed close after it, and as he 
ran along he came to a place where a great clot 
of blood had fallen from the buffalo's wound. 
When he came to where this clot of blood was 
lying on the ground, he stumbled and fell and 
spilled his arrows out of his quiver, and while 
he was picking them up he picked up also the 
clot of blood and hid it in his quiver. 

"What are you picking up?" called the son- 
in-law. 

"Nothing," replied the old man. "I fell 
down and spilled my arrows, and I am putting 
them back." 

"Ah, old man," said the son-in-law, ''y^^ 
are lazy and useless. You no longer help me. 
Go back now to the camp and tell your daughters 
to come down here and help carry in this meat." 

The old man went to the camp and told his 
daughters of the meat that their husband had 
killed, and they went down to the killing ground. 
Then he went to his own lodge and said to his 
wife, "Hurry, now, put the stone kettle on the 
fire. I have brought home something from the 
killing." 

14 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

*'Ah," said the old woman, "has our son-in- 
law been generous and given us something nice 
to eat?" 

"No," replied the old man, "but hurry and 
put the kettle on the fire." 

After a time the water began to boil and the 
old man turned his quiver upside down over 
the pot, and immediately there came from it a 
sound of a child crying, as if it were being hurt. 
The old people both looked in the kettle and 
there they saw a little boy, and they quickly 
took him out of the water. They were sur- 
prised and did not know where the child had 
come from. The old woman wrapped the child 
up and wound a line about its wrappings to 
keep them in place, making a lashing for the 
child. Then they talked about it, wondering 
what should be done with it. They thought 
that if their son-in-law knew it was a boy he 
would kill it; so they determined to tell their 
daughters that the baby was a girl, for then 
their son-in-law would think that he was going 
to have another wife. So he would be glad. 
They called the child Kut-o-yis'— Clot of Blood. 

15 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

The son-in-law and his wives came home, 
bringing the meat, and after a Httle time they 
heard the child in the next lodge crying. The 
son-in-law said to his youngest wife, "Go over 
to your mother's and see whether that baby is 
a boy or a girl. If it is a boy, tell your parents 
to kill it." 

Soon the young woman came back and said 
to her husband, "It is a girl baby. You are 
to have another wife." 

The son-in-law did not know whether to be- 
lieve this, and sent his oldest wife to ask the 
same question. When she came back and told 
him the same thing he believed that it was really 
a girl. Then he was glad, for he said to himself, 
"Now, when this child has grown up, I shall 
have another wife." He said to his youngest 
wife, "Take some back fat and pemmican over 
to your mother; she must be well fed now that 
she has to nurse this child." 

On the fourth day after he had been born 
the child spoke and said to his mother, "Hold 
me in turn to each one of these lodge poles, and 
when I come to the last one I shall fall out of 

16 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

my lashings and be grown up." The old woman 
did as he had said, and as she held him to one 
pole after another he could be seen to grow; 
and finally when he was held to the last pole he 
was a man. 

After Kut-o-yis' had looked about the lodge 
he put his eye to a hole in the lodge-covering and 
looked out. Then he turned around and said 
to the old people, "How is it that in this lodge 
there is nothing to eat? Over by the other 
lodge I see plenty of food hanging up." 

"'Hush," said the old woman, raising her 
hand, ''you will be heard. Our son-in-law hves 
over there. He does not give us anything at 
all to eat." 

''Well," said the young man, "where is your 
piskun — where do you kill buffalo?" 

"It is down by the river," the old woman an- 
swered. "We pound on it and the buffalo run 
out." 

For some time they talked together and the 
old man told Kut-o-yis' how his son-in-law had 
abused him. He said to the young man, "He 
has taken from me my bow and my arrows and 

17 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

has taken even my dogs; and now for many- 
days we have had nothing to eat, except some- 
times a small piece of meat that our daughter 
throws to us." 

"Father," said Kiit-o-yis', "have you no ar- 
rows?" 

"No, my son," replied the old man, "but I 
still have four stone arrow points." 

"Go out then," said Kut-o-yis', "and get 
some wood. We will make a bow and some 
arrows, and in the morning we will go down to 
where the buffalo are and kill something to 
eat." 

Early in the morning Kiit-o-yis' pushed the 
old man and said, "Come, get up now, and we 
will go down and kill, when the buffalo come 
out." It was still very early in the morning. 

When they reached the river the old man 
said, "This is the place to stand and shoot. I 
will go down and drive them out." 

He went down and stamped on the log- jam, 
and presently a fat cow ran out and Kiit-o-yis' 
killed it. 

Now, after these two had gone to the river 

18 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

the son-in-law arose and went over to the old 
man's lodge, and knocked on the poles and called 
to the old man to get up and help him kill. The 
old woman called out to the son-in-law, saying, 
"Your father-in-law has already gone down to 
the piskun." This made the son-in-law angry, 
and he began to talk badly to the old woman 
and to threaten to harm her. 

Presently he went on down to the log-jam, 
and as he got near the place he saw the old man 
at work there, bending over, skinning a bufifalo; 
for Kiit-o-yis', when he had seen the son-in-law 
coming, had lain down on the ground and hid- 
den himself behind the carcass. 

When the son-in-law had come pretty close 
to where the buffalo lay he said to his father-in- 
law, "Old man, stand up and look all about 
you. Look carefully and well, for it will be the 
last time that you will ever see anything"; and 
while the son-in-law said this he took an arrow 
from his quiver. 

Kut-o-yis' spoke to the old man from his hid- 
ing-place and said, "Tell your son-in-law that 
he must take his last look, for that you are going 

19 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

to kill him now." The old man said this as he 
had been told. 

"Ah," said the son-in-law, "y^^ talk back 
to me. That makes me still angrier at you." 
He put an arrow on the string and shot at the 
old man, but did not hit him. Kiit-o-yis' said 
to the old man, "Pick up that arrow and shoot 
it back at him"; and the old man did so. Now, 
they shot at each other four times, and then the 
old man said to Kiit-o-yis', "I am afraid now; 
get up and help me. If you do not, I think he 
will kill me." Then Kut-o-yis' rose to his feet 
and said to the son-in-law, "Here, what are 
you doing? I think you have been treating 
this old man badly for a long time. Why do 
you do it.f^" 

"Oh no," said the son-in-law, and he smiled 
at Kut-o-yis' in a friendly way, for he was afraid 
of him. "Oh no; no one thinks more of this 
old man than I do. I have always been very 
good to him." 

"No," said Kiit-o-yis'. "You are saying what 
is not true, and I am going to kill you now." 

Kut-o-yis' shot the son-in-law four times and 
20 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

he fell down and died. Then the young man 
told his father to go and bring down to him the 
daughters who had acted badly toward him. 
The old man did so and Kut-o-yis' punished 
them. Then he went up to the lodges and said 
to the youngest woman, "Did you love your hus- 
band.?" "Yes," said the girl, "I loved him." 
So Kiit-o-yis' punished her too, but not so badly 
as he had the other daughters, because she had 
been kind to her parents. 

To the old people he said, "Go over now to 
that lodge and live there. There is plenty of 
food, and when that is gone I will kill more. 
As for me, I shall make a journey. Tell me 
where there are any people. In what direction 
shall I go to find a camp.?" 

"Well," said the old man, "up here on Two 
Medicine Lodge Creek there are some people 
— up where the piskun is, you know." 

Kiit-o-yis' followed up the stream to where 
the piskun was and there found many lodges 
of people. In the centre of the camp was a big 
lodge, and painted on it the figure of a bear. 
He did not go to this lodge, but went into a 

21 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

small lodge where two old women lived. When 
he had sat down they put food before him — 
lean dried meat and some belly fat. 

' ' How is this , grandmothers .^ " he said . ' * Here 
is a camp with plenty of fat meat and back fat 
hanging up to dry; why do you not give me 
some of that.^" 

"Hush; be careful," said the old women, 
"In that big lodge over there lives a big bear 
and his wives and children. He takes all the 
best food and leaves us nothing. He is the 
chief of this place." 

Early in the morning Kut-o-yis' said to the 
old women, "Harness up your dogs to the tra- 
vois now and go over to the piskun, and I will 
kill some fat meat for you." 

When they got there, he killed a fat cow and 
helped the old women to cut it up, and they 
took it to the lodge. One of those old women 
said, "Ah me, the bears will be sure to come." 

"Why do you say that?" he asked. 

They said to him, "We shall be sorry to lose 
this back fat." 

"Do not fear," he said. "No one shall take 

22 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

this back fat from you. Now, take all those 
best pieces and hang them up, so that those 
who live in the bear lodge may see them." 

They did so. Pretty soon the old bear chief 
said to one of his children, "By this time 
I think the people have finished killing. Go 
out now and look about; see where the nicest 
pieces are, and bring in some nice back 
fat." 

One of the young bears went out of the lodge 
and stood up and looked about, and when it 
saw this meat hanging by the old women's 
lodge close by, it went over toward it. 

"Ah," said the old women, "there are those 
bears." 

"Do not be afraid," said Kut-o-yis'. 

The young bear went over to where the meat 
was hanging and stood up and began to pull it 
down. Kiit-o-yis' went out of the lodge and 
said, "Wait; wait! What are you doing, tak- 
ing the old women's meat?" 

The young bear answered, "My father told 
me that I should go out and get this meat and 
bring it home to him." 

23 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Kut-0-yis' hit the young bear over the head 
with a stick and it ran home crying. 

When it had reached the lodge it told what 
had happened and the father bear said, ''I will 
go over there myself; perhaps this person will 
hit me over the head." 

When the old women saw the father and 
mother bear and all their relations coming they 
were afraid, but Kut-o-yis' jumped out of the 
lodge and killed the bears one after another; 
all except one little she-bear, a very small one, 
which got away. 

"Well," said Kut-o-yis', "you may go and 
breed more bears." 

He told the old women to move over to the 
bear-painted lodge and after this to live in it. 
It was theirs. 

To the old women Kut-o-yis' then said, 
"Now, grandmothers, where are there any more 
people,^ I want to travel about and see them." 

The old women said, "At the Point of Rocks 
— on Sun River — there is a camp. There is a 
piskun there." 

So Kut-o-yis' set off for that place, and when 

24 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

he came to the camp he went into an old wom- 
an's lodge. 

The old woman gave him something to eat 
— a dish of bad food. 

"Why is this, grandmother?" asked Kut-o-yis'. 
"Have you no food better than this to give to 
a visitor? Down there I see a piskun; you 
must kill plenty of buffalo and must have good 
food." 

"Speak lower," said the old woman, "or you 
may be heard. We have no good food because 
there is a great snake here who is the chief of 
the camp. He takes all the best pieces. He 
lives over there in that snake-painted lodge." 

The next morning when the buffalo were led 
in, Kiit-o-yis' killed one, and they took the back 
fat and carried it to their lodge. Then Kiit-o- 
yis' said, "I think I will visit that snake per- 
son." He went over and went into the lodge, 
and there he saw many women that the snake 
person had taken to be his wives. The women 
were cooking some service berries. Kiit-o-yis' 
picked up the dish and ate the berries and threw 
the dish away. Then he went up to the big 

25 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

snake, who was lying there asleep, and pricked 
him with his knife, saying, "Here, get up; I have 
come to visit you. Let us smoke together." 

Then the snake was angry and he raised up 
his head and began to rattle, and Kiit-o-yis' cut 
off his head and cut him in pieces. He cut off 
the heads of all the snake's wives and children; 
all except one little female snake which got 
away by crawling into a crack in the rocks. 

''Oh, well," said Kiit-o-yis', ''you can go and 
breed snakes so there will be more. The peo- 
ple will not be afraid of little snakes." 

Kut-o-yis' said to the old woman, "Now, 
grandmother, go into this snake lodge and take 
it for your own and everything that is in it." 

Then he said to them, "Where are there some 
more people?" They told him there were some 
camps down the river and some up in the moun- 
tains, but they said, "Do not go up there. 
It is bad because there lives Ai-sin'-o-ko-kl — 
Wind Sucker. He will kill you." 

Kut-o-yis' was glad to know that there was 
such a person, and he went to the mountains. 

When he reached the place where Wind Sucker 
26 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

lived, he looked into his mouth and saw there 
many dead people. Some were skeletons and 
some had only just died. He went in, and there 
he saw a fearful sight. The ground was white 
as snow with the bones of those who had died. 
There were bodies with flesh on them; some who 
had died not long before and some who were 
still living. 

As he looked about, he saw hanging down 
above him a great thing that seemed to move — 
to grow a little larger and then to grow a little 
smaller. 

Kut-o-yis' spoke to one of the people who was 
alive and asked, ''What is that hanging down 
above us?" 

The person answered him, ''That is Wind 
Sucker's heart." 

Then Kut-o-yis' spoke to all the living and 
said to them, "You who still draw a little breath 
try to move your heads in time to the song that 
I shall sing; and you who are still able to move 
stand up on your feet and dance. Take courage 
now; we are going to dance to the ghosts." 

Then Kiit-o-yis' tied his knife, point upward, 

27 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

to the top of his head and began to dance, sing- 
ing the ghost song, and all the others danced 
with him; and as he danced up and down he 
kept springing higher and higher into the air, 
and the point of his knife cut Wind Sucker's 
heart and killed him. 

Then Kiit-o-yis', with his knife, cut a hole 
between Wind Sucker's ribs, and he and all 
those who were able to move crawled out 
through the hole. He said to those who could 
still walk that they should go and tell their 
people to come here, to get the ones still alive 
but unable to travel. 

To some of these people that he had freed 
he said, "Where are there any other people? 
I want to visit all the people." 

''There is a camp to the westward, up the 
river," they replied; ''but you must not take 
the left-hand trail going up because on that trail 
lives a woman who invites men to wrestle with 
her and then kills them. Avoid her." 

Now, really, this was what Kiit-o-yis' was 
looking for. This was what he was doing in 
the world, trying to kill off all the bad things. 

28 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

He asked these people just where this woman 
Hved and how it was best for him to go so that 
he should not meet her. He did this because 
he did not wish the people to know that he was 
going where she was. 

He started, and after he had travelled some 
time he saw a woman standing not far from the 
trail. She called to him, saying, "Come here, 
young man, come here; I want to wrestle with 

you." 

"No," he replied, "I am in a hurry; I can- 
not stop." 

The woman called again, "No, no; do not 
go on; come now and wrestle once with me." 

After she had called him the fourth time, 
Kut-o-yis' went to her. 

Now on the ground where this woman wres- 
tled with people she had placed many sharp, 
broken flint-stones, partly hiding them by the 
grass. The two seized each other and began 
to wrestle over these sharp stones, but Kut-o- 
yis' looked at the ground and did not step on 
them. He watched his chance and gave the 
woman a quick wrench, and threw her down on 

29 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

a, large sharp flint which cut her in two; and 
the parts of her body fell asunder. 

Kiit-o-yis' then went on, and after a time 
came to where a woman had made a place for 
sliding downhill. At the far end of it she had 
fixed a rope which, when she raised it, would trip 
people up, and when they were tripped they fell 
over a high cliff into a deep water, w here a great 
fish ate them. 

When this woman saw Kut-o-yis' coming she 
cried out to him, ''Come over here, young man, 
and slide with me." 

"No," he replied, ''I am in a hurry; I can- 
not wait." She kept calling to him, and when 
she had called him the fourth time he went 
over where he was to slide with her. 

"This sliding," said the woman, "is very 
good fun." 

"Ah, yes," said Kut-o-yis', "I will look at it." 

As he went near the place he looked carefully 
and saw the hidden rope. He began to slide, 
and holding his knife in his hand, when he 
reached the rope he cut it just as the woman 
raised it and pulled on it, and the woman fell 

30 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

over backward into the water and was eaten 
up by the big fish. 

From here he went on again, and after a time 
he came to a big camp. A man-eater was the 
chief of this place. 

Before Kiit-o-yis' went to the chief's lodge 
he looked about and saw a little girl and called 
her to him and said, ''Child, I am going into 
that lodge, to let that man-eater kill and eat 
me. Therefore, be on the watch, and if you 
can get hold of one of my bones take it out and 
call all the dogs to you, and when they have 
come to you throw down the bone and say, 
'Kiit-o-yis', the dogs are eating your bones.'" 

Then Kiit-o-yis' entered the lodge, and when 
the man-eater saw him he called out, ''Oki, 
oki!" (welcome, welcome!) and seemed glad to 
see him, for he was a fat young man. The 
man-eater took a knife and walked up to Kut-o- 
yis' and cut his throat and put him into a great 
stone pot to cook. When the meat was cooked 
he pulled the kettle from the fire and ate the 
body, limb by limb, until it was all eaten. 

After that the little girl who was watching 

31 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

came into the lodge and said, "Pity me, man- 
eater, my mother is hungry and asks you for 
those bones." The old man gathered them 
together and handed them to her, and she took 
them out of the lodge. When she had gone a 
little way, she called all the dogs to her and 
threw down the bones to the dogs, crying out, 
"Look out, Kut-o-yis', the dogs are eating you," 
and when she said that, Kut-o-yis' arose from 
the pile of bones. 

Again he went into the lodge, and when the 
man-eater saw him he cried out, "How, how, 
how! the fat young man has survived!" and he 
seemed surprised. Again he took his knife and 
cut the throat of Kut-o-yis' and threw him into 
the kettle. Again when the meat was cooked 
he ate it, and when the little girl asked for the 
bones again he gave them to her. She took 
them out and threw them to the dogs, crying, 
"Kiit-o-yis', the dogs are eating you," and 
again Kut-o-yis' arose from the bones. 

When the man-eater had cooked him four 
times Kiit-o-yis' again went into the lodge, and 
seizing the man-eater, he threw him into the 

32 



KUT-0-YIS', THE BLOOD BOY 

boiling kettle, and his wives and all his children, 
and boiled them to death. 

The man-eater was the seventh and last of 
the bad things to be destroyed by Kut-o-yis'. 



33 



THE DOG AND THE ROOT DIGGER 

THIS happened long ago. 
In those days the people were hungry. 
No buffalo could be found, no antelope were 
seen on the prairie. Grass grew in the trails 
where the elk and the deer used to travel. 
There was not even a rabbit in the brush. Then 
the people prayed, "Oh, Napi, help us now or 
we must die. The buffalo and the deer are 
gone. It is useless to kindle the morning fires; 
our arrows are useless to us; our knives remain 
in their sheaths." 

Then Napi set out to find where the game 
was, and with him went a young man, the son 
of a chief. For many days they travelled over 
the prairies. They could see no game; roots 
and berries were their only food. One day they 
climbed to the crest of a high ridge, and as they 
looked off over the country they saw far away 
by a stream a lonely lodge. 

34 



THE DOG AND THE ROOT DIGGER 

"Who can it be?" asked the young man. 
"Who camps there alone, far from friends?" 

"That," said Napi, "is he who has hidden 
all the animals from the people. He has a wife 
and a little son." Then they went down near 
to the lodge and Napi told the young man what 
to do. Napi changed himself into a little dog, 
and he said, "This is I." The young man 
changed himself into a root digger and he said, 
"This is I." Pretty soon the little boy, who 
was playing about near the lodge, found the 
dog and carried it to his father, saying, "See 
what a pretty little dog I have found." 

The father said, "That is not a dog; throw it 
away!" The Httle boy cried, but his father 
made him take the dog out of the lodge. Then 
the boy found the root digger, and again pick- 
ing up the dog, he carried both into the lodge, 
saying, "Look, mother; see what a pretty root 
digger I have found." 

"Throw them away," said his father; "throw 
them both away. That is not a root digger; that 
is not a dog." 

"I want that root digger," said the woman. 
"Let our son have the little dog." 

35 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

"Let it be so, then," replied the husband; 
"but remember that if trouble comes, it is 
you who have brought it on yourself and on 
our son." 

Soon after this the woman and her son went 
off to pick berries, and when they were out of 
sight the man went out and killed a buffalo cow 
and brought the meat into the lodge and covered 
it up. He took the bones and the skin and 
threw them in the water. When his wife came 
back he gave her some of the meat to roast, 
and while they were eating, the little boy fed 
the dog three times, and when he offered it 
more the father took the meat away. 

In the night, when all were sleeping, Napi and 
the young man arose in their right shapes and 
ate some of the meat. 

"You were right," said the young man. "This 
is surely the person who has hidden the buf- 
falo." 

"Wait," said Napi; and when they had fin- 
ished eating they changed themselves again into 
the root digger and the dog. 

Next morning the wife and the little boy went 
out to dig roots, and the woman took the root 

36 



THE DOG AND THE ROOT DIGGER 

digger with her, while the dog followed the lit- 
tle boy. 

As they travelled along looking for roots, they 
passed near a cave, and at its mouth stood a 
buffalo cow. The dog ran into the cave, and 
the root digger, slipping from the woman's 
hand, followed, gliding along over the ground 
like a snake. In this cave were found all the 
buffalo and the other game. They began to 
drive them out, and soon the prairie was cov- 
ered with buffalo, antelope, and deer. Never 
before were so many seen. 

Soon the man came running up, and he said 
to his wife, "Who is driving out my animals?" 
The woman replied, "The dog and the root 
digger are in there now." 

"Did I not tell you," said her husband, "that 
those were not what they looked like. See now 
the trouble that you have brought upon us!" 
He put an arrow on his string and waited for 
them to come out, but they were cunning, and 
when the last animal, a big bull, was starting 
out the stick grasped him by the long hair 
under the neck and coiled up in it, and the dog 

37 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

held on by the hair underneath until they were 
far out on the prairie, when they changed into 
their true shapes and drove the buffalo toward 
the camp. 

When the people saw the buffalo coming they 
led a big band of them to the piskun, but just 
as the leaders were about to jump over the 
cliff a raven came and flapped its wings in 
front of them and croaked, and they turned off 
and ran down another way. Every time a herd 
of buffalo was brought near to the piskun this 
raven frightened them away. Then Napi knew 
that the raven was the person who had kept 
the buffalo hidden. 

Napi went down to the river and changed 
himself into a beaver and lay stretched out on 
a sandbar, as if dead. The raven was very 
hungry and flew down and began to pick at the 
beaver. Then Napi caught it by the legs and 
ran with it to the camp, and all the chiefs were 
called together to decide what should be done 
with the bird. Some said, "Let us kill it," 
but Napi said, ''No, I will punish it," and he 
tied it up over the lodge, right in the smoke hole. 

38 



THE DOG AND THE ROOT DIGGER 

As the days went by the raven grew thin 
and weak and its eyes were bhnded by the 
thick smoke, and it cried continually to Napi 
asking him to pity it. One day Napi untied 
the bird and told it to take its right shape, and 
then said, "Why have you tried to fool Napi? 
Look at me. I cannot die. Look at me. Of 
all peoples and tribes I am the chief. I cannot 
die. I made the mountains; they are standing 
yet. I made the prairies and the rocks; you 
see them yet. 

"Go home now to your wife and your child, 
and when you are hungry hunt like any one 
else. If you do not, you shall die." 



39 



THE CAMP OF THE GHOSTS 

THERE was once a man who loved his wife 
dearly. After they had been married for 
a time they had a little boy. Some time after 
that the woman grew sick and did not get well. 
She was sick for a long time. The young man 
loved his wife so much that he did not wish 
to take a second woman. The woman grew 
worse and worse. Doctoring did not seem to 
do her any good. At last she died. 

For a few days after this, the man used to take 
his baby on his back and travel out away from 
the camp, walking over the hills, crying and 
mourning. He felt badly, and he did not know 
what to do. 

After a time he said to the little child, "My 
little boy, you will have to go and live with your 
grandmother. I shall go away and try to find 
your mother and bring her back." 

40 



THE CAMP OF THE GHOSTS 

He took the baby to his mother's lodge and 
asked her to take care of it and left it with her. 
Then he started away, not knowing where he 
was going nor what he should do. 

When he left the camp, he travelled toward 
the Sand Hills. On the fourth night of his 
journeying he had a dream. He dreamed that 
he went into a little lodge in which was an old 
woman. This old woman said to him, "Why 
are you here, my son.'^" 

The young man replied, ''I am mourning 
day and night, crying all the while. My little 
son, who is the only one left me, also mourns." 

*'Well," asked the old woman, "for whom 
are you mourning?" 

The young man answered, "I am mourning 
for my wife. She died some time ago. I am 
looking for her." 

"Oh, I saw her," said the old woman; "she 
passed this way. I myself have no great power 
to help you, but over by that far butte beyond, 
lives another old woman. Go to her and she 
will give you power to continue your journey. 
You could not reach the place you are seeking 

41 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

without help. Beyond the next butte from her 
lodge you will find the camp of the ghosts." 

The next morning the young man awoke and 
went on toward the next butte. It took him 
a long summer's day to get there, but he found 
there no lodge, so he lay down and slept. Again 
he dreamed. In his dream he saw a little lodge, 
and saw an old woman come to the door and 
heard her call to him. He went into the lodge, 
and she spoke to him. 

"My son, you are very unhappy. I know 
why you have come this way. You are looking 
for your wife who is now in the ghost country. 
It is a very hard thing for you to get there. 
You may not be able to get your wife back, 
but I have great power and I will do for you 
all that I can. If you act as I advise, you 
may succeed." 

Other wise words she spoke to him, telling 
him what he should do; also she gave him a bun- 
dle of mysterious things which would help him 
on his journey. 

She went on to say, "You stay here for a 
time and I will go over there to the ghosts' 

42 



THE CAMP OF THE GHOSTS 

camp and try to bring back some of your rela- 
tions who are there. If it is possible for me to 
bring them back, you may return there with 
them, but on the way you must shut your eyes. 
If you should open them and look about you, 
you would die. Then you would never come 
back. When you come to the camp you will 
pass by a big lodge and they will ask you, ' Where 
are you going and who told you to come here.^' 
You must answer, 'My grandmother, who is 
standing out here with me, told me to come.' 
They will try to scare you; they will make fear- 
ful noises and you will see strange and terrible 
things, but do not be afraid." 

The old woman went away, and after a time 
came back with one of the man's relations. 
He went with this relation to the ghosts' camp. 
When they came to the large lodge some one 
called out and asked the man what he was 
doing there, and he answered as the old woman 
had told him. As he passed on through the 
camp the ghosts tried to frighten him with 
many fearful sights and sounds, but he kept 
up a strong heart. 

43 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Presently he came to another lodge, and the 
man who owned it came out and spoke to him, 
asking where he was going. The young man 
said, "I am looking for my dead wife. I mourn 
for her so much that I cannot rest. My little 
boy too keeps crying for his mother. They 
have offered to give me other wives, but I do 
not want them. I want the one for whom I am 
searching." 

The ghost said, ''It is a fearful thing that 
you have come here; it is very likely that you 
will never go away. Never before has there 
been a person here." 

The ghost asked him to come into his lodge, 
and he entered. 

This chief ghost said to him, ''You shall stay 
here for four nights and you shall see your 
wife, but you must be very careful or you will 
never go back. You will die here in this very 
place." 

Then the chief ghost walked out of the lodge 
and shouted out for a feast, inviting the man's 
father-in-law and other relations who were in 
the camp to come and eat, saying, "Your son- 

44 



THE CAMP OF THE GHOSTS 

in-law invites you to a feast," as if he meant 
that the son-in-law had died and become a 
ghost and arrived at the camp of the ghosts. 

Now when these invited ghosts had reached 
the lodge they did not like to go in. They said 
to each other, ''There is a person here"; it 
seemed as if they did not like the smell of a hu- 
man being. The chief ghost burned sweet pine 
on the fire, which took away this smell, and then 
the ghosts came in and sat down. 

The chief ghost said to them, ''Now pity 
this son-in-law of yours. He is looking for his 
wife. Neither the great distance that he has 
come nor the fearful sights that he has seen 
here have weakened his heart. You can see 
how tender-hearted he is. He not only mourns 
because he has lost his wife, but he mourns 
because his little boy is now alone, with no 
mother; so pity him and give him back his 
wife." 

The ghosts talked among themselves, and 
one of them said to the man, "Yes; you shall 
stay here for four nights, and then we will give 
you a medicine pipe — the Worm Pipe — and we 

45 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

will give you back your wife and you may re- 
turn to your home." 

Now, after the third night the chief ghost 
called together all the people, and they came, and 
with them came the man's wife. One of the 
ghosts was beating a drum, and following him 
was another who carried the Worm Pipe, which 
they gave to him. 

Then the chief ghost said, "Now be very 
careful; to-morrow you and your wife will start 
on your journey homeward. Your wife will 
carry the medicine pipe and for four days some 
of your relations will go along with you. Dur- 
ing this time you must keep your eyes shut; 
do not open them, or you will return here and be 
a ghost forever. Your wife is not now a per- 
son. But in the middle of the fourth day you 
will be told to look, and when you have opened 
your eyes you will see that your wife has become 
a person, and that your ghost relations have 
disappeared." 

Before the man went away his father-in-law 
spoke to him and said, "When you get near 
home you must not go at once into the camp. 

46 



THE CAMP OF THE GHOSTS 

Let some of your relations know that you have 
come, and ask them to build a sweat-house for 
you. Go into that sweat-house and wash your 
body thoroughly, leaving no part of it, however 
small, uncleansed. If you fail in this, you will 
die. There is something about the ghosts that 
it is difficult to remove. It can only be re- 
moved by a thorough sweat. Take care now 
that you do what I tell you. Do not whip 
your wife, nor strike her with a knife, nor hit 
her with fire. If you do, she will vanish before 
your eyes and return here." 

They left the ghost country to go home, and 
on the fourth day the wife said to her husband, 
"Open your eyes." He looked about him and 
saw that those who had been with them had 
disappeared, and he found that they were stand- 
ing in front of the old woman's lodge by the 
butte. She came out of her lodge and said to 
them, "Stop; give me back those mysterious 
medicines of mine, whose power helped you to 
do what you wished." The man returned them 
to her, and then once more became really a liv- 
ing person. 

47 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

When they drew near to the camp the woman 
went on ahead and sat down on a butte. Then 
some curious persons came out to see who this 
might be. As they approached the woman 
called out to them, "Do not come any nearer. 
Go and tell my mother and my relations to put 
up a lodge for us a little way from the camp, 
and near by it build a sweat-house." When this 
had been done the man and his wife went in 
and took a thorough sweat, and then they went 
into the lodge and burned sweet grass and puri- 
fied their clothing and the Worm Pipe. Then 
their relations and friends came in to see them. 
The man told them where he had been and how 
he had managed to get his wife back, and that 
the pipe hanging over the doorway was a medi- 
cine pipe — the Worm Pipe — presented to him 
by his ghost father-in-law. 

That is how the people came to possess the 
Worm Pipe. That pipe belongs to the band 
of Piegans known as the Worm People. 

Not long after this, once in the night, this 
man told his wife to do something, and when she 
did not begin at once he picked up a brand 

48 



THE CAMP OF THE GHOSTS 

from the fire and raised it — not that he intended 
to strike her with it, but he made as if he would 
— when all at once she vanished and was never 
seen again. 



49 



THE BUFFALO STONE 

A SMALL stone, which is often a fossil shell, 
or sometimes only a queer shaped piece of 
flint, is called by the Blackfeet I-nis'kim, the 
buffalo stone. This stone has great power, and 
gives its owner good luck in bringing the buffalo 
close, so that they may be killed. The stone 
is found on the prairie, and any one who finds 
one is thought to be very lucky. Sometimes a 
man who is going along on the prairie will hear 
a queer faint chirp, such as a little bird might 
make. He knows this sound is made by a 
buffalo stone. He stops and searches for it on 
the ground, and if he cannot find it, marks the 
place and comes back next day to look for it 
again. If it is found, he and all his family are 
glad. The Blackfeet tell a story about how the 
first buffalo stone was found. 

Long ago, one winter, the buffalo disappeared. 
The snow was deep, so deep that the people 

50 



THE BUFFALO STONE 

could not move in search of the buffalo; so 
the hunters went as far as they could up and 
down the river-bottoms and in the ravines, and 
killed deer and elk and other small game, and 
when these were all killed or driven away the 
people began to starve. 

One day a young married man killed a prairie 
rabbit. He ran home as fast as he could, and 
told one of his wives to hurry and get a skin of 
water to cook it. She started down to the river 
for water, and as she was going along she heard 
a beautiful song. She looked all about, but 
could see no one who was singing. 

The song seemed to come from a big cotton- 
wood tree near the trail leading down to the 
water. As she looked closely at this tree she 
saw a queer stone jammed in a fork where the 
tree was spHt, and with it a few hairs from a 
buffalo which had rubbed against the tree. 
The woman was frightened and dared not pass 
the tree. Soon the singing stopped and the 
I-nis'kim said to the woman, "Take me to your 
lodge, and when it is dark call in the people and 
teach them the song you have just heard. Pray, 

51 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

too, that you may not starve, and that the buf- 
falo may come back. Do this, and when day 
comes your hearts will be glad." 

The woman went on and got the water, and 
when she came back she took the stone and gave 
it to her husband, telling him about the song and 
what the stone had said. 

As soon as it was dark, the man called the 
chiefs and old men to his lodge, and his wife 
taught them the song that she had heard. They 
prayed too, as the stone had said should be done. 
Before long they heard far off a noise coming. 
It was the tramp of a great herd of buffalo. 
Then they knew that the stone was powerful, 
and since that time the people have taken care 
of it and have prayed to it. 



52 



HOW THE THUNDER PIPE CAME 

YOU have heard the Thunder, for he is 
everywhere. He roars in the mountains, 
and far out on the prairie is heard his crashing. 
He strikes the high rocks, and they fall to pieces; 
a tree, and it is broken in slivers ; the people, and 
they die. He is bad. He does not like the 
high cliflF, the standing tree, or living man. He 
likes to strike and crush them to the ground. 
Of all things he is the most powerful. He can- 
not be resisted. But I have not told you the 
worst thing about him. Sometimes he takes 
away women. 

Long ago, almost in the beginning, a man and 
his wife were sitting in their lodge when Thun- 
der came and struck them. The man was not 
killed. At first he lay as if dead, but after a 
time he lived again, and, standing up, looked 
about him. He did not see his wife. 

53 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

"Oh," he thought, "she has gone to get wood 
or water," and he sat down again. But when 
night came he went out of the lodge and asked 
the people about her. No one had seen her. 
He looked all through the camp, but could not 
find her. Then he knew that the Thunder had 
taken her away, and he went out on the hills 
and mourned. All night he sat there, trying 
to think what he might do to get back his 
wife. 

When morning came he rose and wandered 
away, and whenever he met any of the animals 
he asked if they could tell him where the Thun- 
der lived. The animals laughed, and most of 
them would not answer. 

The Wolf said to him, "Do you think that 
we would look for the home of the only one we 
fear? He is our only danger. From all other 
enemies we can run away, but from him no one 
can run. He strikes and there we lie. Turn 
back; go home. Do not look for the place of 
that dreadful one." 

The man kept on and travelled a long dis- 
tance. At last, after many days, he came to a 

54 



HOW THE THUNDER PIPE CAME 

lodge — a strange lodge, for it was made of stone. 
Just like any other lodge it looked, only it was 
made of stone. This was the home of the Raven 
chief. The man entered. 

"Welcome, friend," said the chief of the 
Ravens; ''sit down there," and he pointed to a 
place. Soon food was placed before the poor 
man. 

When he had finished eating, the Raven chief 
asked, "Why have you come here?" 

"Thunder has stolen my wife," the man an- 
swered. "I am looking for his dwelling-place 
that I may find her." 

"Are you brave enough to enter the lodge of 
tliat dreadful person?" asked the Raven. "He 
lives near here. His lodge is of stone like this 
one, and hanging in it are eyes — the eyes of 
those he has killed or taken away. He has 
taken out their eyes and hung them in his lodge. 
Now, then! Dare you enter there?" 

"No," answered the man, "I am afraid. 
Who could look at such dreadful things and 
live?" 

"No man can," said the Raven; "there is 
55 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

only one old Thunder fears; there is but one he 
cannot kill. It is we. It is the Ravens. Now 
I will give you some medicine, and he shall not 
harm you. You shall enter there and try to 
find among those eyes your wife's, and if you 
find them tell the Thunder why you came and 
make him give them to you. Here, now, is a 
raven's wing. Point this at him and he will 
be afraid and start back; but if that should 
fail, take this arrow. Its shaft is made of elk 
horn. Take this, I say, and shoot it through 
the lodge." 

"Why make a fool of me?" the poor man 
asked. *'My heart is sad. I am crying." He 
covered his head with his robe and wept. 

*'0h," said the Raven, "you do not believe 
me. Come outside, come outside, and I will 
make you believe." 

When they stood outside the Raven asked, 
"Is the home of your people far.^" 

"A great distance," said the man. 

" Can you tell how many days you have trav- 
elled?" 

"No," he replied, "my heart was sad; I did 
5Q 



HOW THE THUNDER PIPE CAME 

not count the days. Since I left, the berries 
have grown and ripened." 

"Can you see your camp from here?" asked 
the Raven. 

The man did not answer. Then the Raven 
rubbed some medicine on his eyes and said, 
*'Look!" The man looked and saw the camp. 
It was near. He saw the people; he saw the 
smoke rising from the lodges; he saw the paint- 
ing on some of the lodges. 

"Now you will believe," said the Raven. 
"Take, then, the arrow and the wing, and go 
and get your wife." The man took these things 
and went to the Thunder's lodge. He entered 
and sat down by the doorway. 

The Thunder sat at the back of the lodge 
and looked at him with awful eyes. The man 
looked above and saw hanging there many 
pairs of eyes. Among them were those of his 
wife. 

"Why have you come?" said the Thunder in 
a dreadful voice. 

"I seek my wife," said the man, "whom you 
have stolen. There hang her eyes." 

57 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

**No man may enter my lodge and live," 
said the Thunder, and he rose to strike him. 
Then the man pointed the raven wing at the 
Thunder, and he fell back on his bed and shiv- 
ered; but soon he recovered and rose again, 
and then the man fitted the elk-horn arrow to 
his bow and shot it through the lodge of stone. 
Right through that stone it pierced a hole and 
let the sunlight in. 

"Wait," said the Thunder; "stop. You are 
the stronger, you have the greater medicine. 
You shall have your wife. Take down her 
eyes." 

The man cut the string that held the eyes, 
and his wife stood beside him. 

"Now," said the Thunder, "you know me. 
I have great power. In summer I live here; 
but when winter comes I go far south. I go 
south with the birds. Here is my pipe. It 
has strong power. Take it and keep it. After 
this, when first I come in the spring you shall 
fill this pipe and light it, and you shall smoke 
it and pray to me ; you and the people. I bring 
the rain which makes the berries large and ripe. 

58 



HOW THE THUNDER PIPE CAME 

I bring the rain which makes all things grow, 
and for this you shall pray to me; you and all 
the people." 

Thus the people got their first medicine pipe. 
It was long ago. 



59 



COLD MAKER'S MEDICINE 

THE last lodge had been set up in the Black- 
feet winter camp. Evening was closing 
over the travel-tired people. The sun had 
dropped beyond the hills not far away. Women 
were bringing water from the river at the edge 
of the great circle. Men gathered in quiet 
groups, weary after the long march of the day. 
Children called sleepily to each other, and the 
dogs sniffed about in well-fed content. 

Lone Feather wrapped his robe more closely 
around him and walked slowly from his lodge 
door and from the camp, off toward the north. 
He was thinking of many things, and hardly 
noticed where he was going. Presently as he 
walked, he heard the sound of persons talking. 
He stopped to listen. The sound came from a 
lodge made of stone, close by the river. Quietly 
he went toward the lodge and saw a thin blue 
line of smoke coming from the top. 

60 



COLD MAKER'S MEDICINE 

As he approached, an old woman, bent with 
age and crippled, came from the lodge door and 
looked at him. 

"Will you come into my lodge?" she said, 
greeting him. 

Lone Feather looked at her for a moment in 
silence. She spoke again. He could not under- 
stand her speech, for she belonged to another 
tribe. By signs she made him know that she 
wished him to come into her lodge and rest. 
Lone Feather entered. 

Far back from the door crouched two big 
grizzly bears. She made signs to show that the 
bears were friendly, and Lone Feather sat down 
near the door. She stirred the fire, and as she 
put on fresh wood the sparks flew up toward the 
smoke hole, which was opened only a little way. 

By signs she told him she would go out and 
open the smoke hole wider, so that the fire might 
burn more brightly. She was gone for some 
time, and Lone Feather sat looking into the 
fire, still thinking of many things, when the 
air became thick with smoke. He looked up 
and saw that the smoke hole was closed. He 

61 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

sprang up and went to the door, but the door 
covering was down. He raised it, and as he 
put his head out the old woman hit him with a 
large stone club and he was dead. 

Before his spirit started for the Sand Hills 
he saw that with a large knife she cut up his 
body and put the pieces into a pot. Soon they 
were well cooked and the old woman and the 
two bears feasted on his flesh. 

They threw his bones out of the door, where 
they fell among many others like them. The 
ground was strewn with the bones of the per- 
sons she had trapped and killed. 

Day by day other persons disappeared from 
the winter camp, and more and more bones 
whitened on the ground outside the stone lodge 
on the river bank. 

As Cold Maker was bringing the snow to the 
Blackfeet winter camp, he passed the Sand Hills. 
Lone Feather and other ghosts from the Black- 
feet tribe were telling each other how the old 
woman had sent them there. Cold Maker 
heard their stories and he was angry. 

When he reached the camp he went to the 

62 



COLD MAKER'S MEDICINE 

lodge of Broken Bow — a brave young man, but 
very poor. 

He shivered when Cold Maker entered his 
lodge and drew his ragged robe about him. 
They were close friends. 

"Would you like to have a new robe?" asked 
Cold Maker. 

"Yes," said Broken Bow. 

"Come with me. You may kill two grizzly 
bears," said Cold Maker. 

"My bow is broken. I cannot," said Broken 
Bow sadly. 

"I will help you. Bring only a knife." 

Together they went from the lodges toward 
the north. The sun was already hidden be- 
hind the nearby hills. 

After they had travelled some distance they 
heard the sound of voices. They listened. Two 
bears were complaining that they wanted meat. 
A woman told them they must wait. The men 
saw the line of thin blue smoke rising from the 
top of the lodge of stone. All about whitening 
bones covered the ground. They went nearer. 

Soon an old woman, bent with age and crip- 

63 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

pled, came from the door and smiled as she saw 
the two persons coming. 

'*Come in and rest," she said. Broken Bow 
did not understand her language, but Cold 
Maker, who understands all tribes, said, "We 
are cold. Will you let us sit by your fire.^" 

The old woman smiled again. 

"You are welcome," she said; "come in. Do 
not fear my bears. They are friendly. They 
will not harm you." The two friends entered 
the lodge, where a smouldering fire sent a feeble 
smoke up to the smoke hole, that was partly 
open. She put fresh wood on the fire and said, 
"I will open the smoke hole wider," and went 
out, dropping the door covering as she w^ent. 

Then she closed the smoke hole. The smoke 
began to fill the top of the lodge. It settled 
lower and lower. Broken Bow was afraid. 

"Give me your pipe," said Cold Maker. 

Broken Bow filled his pipe and handed it to 
him. He lighted it by a brand from the fire, 
and sent great puffs of smoke curling upward. 
This smoke met the other smoke and stopped it. 
It could not descend any lower. 

64 



COLD MAKER'S MEDICINE 

Broken Bow saw the wonderful medicine of 
his friend. He was no longer afraid, but won- 
dered what Cold Maker would do next. The 
grizzly bears growled low. 

The old woman outside called to them, 
"Friends, is it smoking in there now.^" 

"Not a bit," rephed Cold Maker. "We are 
very comfortable." 

She waited. They did not come out. She 
stood near the door. Her stone club was ready. 
She grew impatient. She wondered what had 
gone wrong with her plans. The two friends 
were silent. She looked at the smoke hole, but 
it was closed securely. She lifted the door 
covering to see if the friends within had died. 
They sat perfectly still. She entered to look 
more closely, and as soon as she was fairly in- 
side Cold Maker and Broken Bow rushed out 
and dropped the door covering. Before she 
could move they piled great heaps of stone in 
the door-way. The bears growled. She called 
for help. Cold Maker and Broken Bow went 
on down the river. 

Then Cold Maker took from a little sack a 

65 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

few white eagle-down feathers. He blew them 
from him. At once a fierce storm blew across 
the valley. The bitter cold froze the water, 
but only in this one place. It dammed the 
stream with fast forming ice. The water rose 
higher and higher. It spread out over the 
banks. Cold Maker and Broken Bow went 
far off on the hills and watched it. Little by 
little it rose. It reached the stone lodge. The 
bears roared. The woman screamed. The water 
reached the top and covered the lodge from 
sight. All sound ceased. A moment more, and 
the water was quiet. Once more Cold Maker 
blew from him a few white eagle-down feathers. 
The storm subsided. It became warm again. 
The ice melted. The water retreated to its 
channel. 

Cold Maker and Broken Bow went to the 
stone lodge. The woman was lying beside the 
pot. The grizzly bears were close to the stones 
which blocked the door-way. 

Cold Maker said, "Here is your new robe," 
and Broken Bow took from the bears their thick, 
warm skins. 

66 



COLD MAKER'S MEDICINE 

On his way home Cold Maker again passed 
the Sand Hills. Entering the country was an 
old woman bent with age and crippled. 

He hurried on. 



67 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

IN the Blackfeet tribe was an association 
known as the All Comrades. This was 
made up of a dozen secret societies graded ac- 
cording to age, the members of the younger so- 
cieties passing, after a few years, into the older 
ones. This association was in part benevolent 
and helpful and in part to encourage bravery in 
war, but its main purpose was to see that the 
orders of the chiefs were carried out, and to 
punish offences against the tribe at large. 
There are stories which explain how these so- 
cieties came to be instituted, and this one tells 
how the Society of Bulls began. 

THE BULLS SOCIETY 

It was long, long ago, very far back, that this 
happened. In those days the people used to 
kill the buffalo by driving them over a steep 
place near the river, down which they fell into 

68 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

a great pen built at the foot of the cHff, where 
the buffalo that had not been killed by the fall 
were shot with arrows by the men. Then the 
people went into the pen and skinned the buffalo 
and cut them up and carried the meat away to 
their camp. This pen they called piskun. 

In those days the people had built a great 
piskun with high, strong walls. No buffalo 
could jump over it; not even if a great crowd 
of them ran against it, could they push it 
down. 

The young men kept going out, as they always 
did, to try to bring the buffalo to the edge of 
the cliff, but somehow they would not jump 
over into the piskun. When they had come 
almost to the edge, they would turn off to one 
side or the other and run down the sloping 
hills and away over the prairie. So the people 
could get no food, and they began to be hungry, 
and at last to starve. 

Early one morning a young woman, the 
daughter of a brave man, was going from her 
lodge down to the stream to get water, and as 
she went along she saw a herd of buffalo feed- 

69 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

ing on the prairie, close to the edge of the cHff 
above the great piskun. 

"Oh," she called out, "if you will only jump 
off into the piskun I will marry one of you." 
She did not mean this, but said it just in fun, 
and as soon as she had said it, she wondered 
greatly when she saw the buffalo come jump- 
ing over the edge, falling down the cliff. 

A moment later a big bull jumped high over 
the wall of the piskun and came toward her, 
and now truly she was frightened. 

"Come," he said, taking hold of her arm. 

"No, no," she answered, trying to pull her- 
self away. 

"But you said if the buffalo would only jump 
over, you would marry one of them. Look, the 
piskun is full." 

She did not answer, and without saying any- 
thing more he led her up over the bluff and out 
on the prairie. 

After the people had finished killing the buf- 
falo and cutting up the meat, they missed this 
young woman. No one knew where she had 
gone, and her relations were frightened and 

70 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

very sad because they could not find her. So 
her father took his bow and quiver and put them 
on his back and said, "I will go and find her"; 
and he climbed the bluff and set out over the 
prairie. 

He travelled some distance, but saw noth- 
ing of his daughter. The sun was hot, and at 
length he came to a buffalo wallow in which 
some water was standing, and drank and sat 
down to rest. A little way off on the prairie 
he saw a herd of buffalo. As the man sat there 
by the wallow, trying to think what he might 
do to find his daughter, a magpie came up and 
alighted on the ground near him. The man 
spoke to it, saying, '*Mam-i-at'si-kimi — Magpie 
— ^you are a beautiful bird ; help me, for I am very 
unhappy. As you travel about over the prairie, 
look everywhere, and if you see my daughter say 
to her, 'Your father is waiting by the wallow.'" 

Soon the magpie flew away, and as he passed 
near the herd of buffalo he saw the young 
woman there, and alighting on the ground near 
her, he began to pick at things, turning his head 
this way and that, and seeming to look for food. 

71 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

When he was close to the girl he said to her, 
"Your father is waiting by the wallow." 

"Sh-h-h! Sh-h-h!" replied the girl in a 
whisper, looking about her very much fright- 
ened, for her bull husband was sleeping close 
by. "Do not speak so loud. Go back and tell 
him to wait." 

"Your daughter is over there with the buf- 
falo. She says 'Wait,'" said the magpie when 
he had flown back to the poor father. 

After a little time the bull awoke and said to 
his wife, "Go and bring me some water." Then 
the woman was glad, and she took a horn from 
her husband's head and went to the wallow for 
water. 

"Oh, why did you come?" she said to her fa- 
ther. "They will surely kill you." 

"I came to take my daughter back to my 
lodge. Come, let us go." 

"No," said the girl, "not now. They will 
surely chase us and kill us. Wait until he 
sleeps again and I will try to get away." Then 
she filled the horn with water and went back to 
the buffalo. 

72 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

Her husband drank a swallow of the water, 
and when he took the horn it made a noise. 
"Ah," he said, as he looked about, '*a person is 
somewhere close by." 

"No one," replied the girl, but her heart 
stood still. The bull drank again. Then he 
stood up on his feet and moaned and grunted, 
"M-m-ah-oo! Bu-u-u!" Fearful was the sound. 
Up rose the other bulls, raised their tails in the 
air, tossed their heads and bellowed back to 
him. Then they pawed the earth, thrust their 
horns into it, rushed here and there, and pres- 
ently, coming to the wallow, found there the 
poor man. They rushed over him, trampling 
him with their great hoofs, thrust their horns 
into his body and tore him to pieces, and tram- 
pled him again. Soon not even a piece of his 
body could be seen — only the wet earth cut up 
by their hoofs. 

Then his daughter mourned in sorrow. " Oh! 
Ah! Ni-nah-ah! Oh! Ah! Ni-nah-ah!''— Ah, my 
father, my father. 

"Ah," said her bull husband; "now you 
understand how it is that we feel. You mourn 

73 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

for your father; but we have seen our fathers, 
mothers, and many of our relations fall over the 
high cliffs, to be killed for food by your people. 
But now I will pity you, I will give you one 
chance. If you can bring your father to life, 
you and he may go back to your camp." 

Then said the woman, ''Ah, magpie, pity me, 
help me; for now I need help. Look in the 
trampled mud of the wallow and see if you can 
find even a little piece of my father's body and 
bring it to me." 

Swiftly the magpie flew to the wallow, and 
alighting there, walked all about, looking in 
every hole and even tearing up the mud with 
his sharp beak. Presently he uncovered some- 
thing white, and as he picked the mud from 
about it, he saw it was a bone, and pulling hard, 
he dragged it from the mud — the joint of a 
man's backbone. Then gladly he flew back 
with it to the woman. 

The girl put the bone on the ground and cov- 
ered it with her robe and began to sing. After 
she had sung she took the robe away, and there 
under it lay her father's body, as if he had just 

74 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

died. Once again she covered the body with 
the robe and sang, and this time when she took 
the robe away the body was breathing. A 
third time she covered the body with the robe 
and sang, and when she again took away the 
robe, the body moved its arms and legs a httle. 
A fourth time she covered it and sang, and when 
she took away the robe her father stood up. 

The buffalo were surprised and the magpie 
was glad, and flew about making a great noise. 

"Now this day we have seen a strange thing," 
said her bull husband. "The people's medi- 
cine is strong. He whom we trampled to death, 
whom our hoofs cut to pieces and mixed all up 
with the soil, is ahve again. Now you shall go 
to your home, but before you go we will teach 
you our dance and our song. Do not forget 
them." 

The buffalo showed the man and his daughter 
their dance and taught them the songs, and 
then the bull said to them, "Now you are to go 
back to your home, but do not forget what you 
have seen. Teach the people this dance and 
these songs, and while they are dancing it let 

75 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

them wear a bull's head and a robe. Those 
who are to be of the Bulls Society shall wear 
them." 

When the poor man returned with his daugh- 
ter, all the people were glad. Then after a time 
he called a council of the chiefs and told them 
the things that had happened. The chiefs 
chose certain young men to be Bulls, and the 
man taught them the dance and the song, and 
told them everything that they should do. 

So began the Bull Society. 

THE OTHER SOCIETIES 

For a long time the buffalo had not been seen. 
Every one was hungry, for the hunters could 
find no food for the people. 

A certain man, who had two wives, a daughter, 
and two sons, as he saw what a hard time they 
were having, said, ''I shall not stop here to die. 
To-morrow we will move toward the mountains, 
where we may kill elk and deer and sheep and 
antelope, or, if not these, at least we shall find 
beaver and birds, and can get them. In this 
way we shall have food to eat and shall live." 

76 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

Next morning they caught their dogs and har- 
nessed them to the travois and took their loads 
on their backs and set out. It was still winter, 
and they travelled slowly. Besides, they were 
weak from hunger and could go only a short 
distance in a day. The fourth night came, and 
they sat in their lodge, tired and hungry. No 
one spoke, for people who are hungry do not 
care to talk. Suddenly, outside, the dogs be- 
gan to bark, and soon the door was pushed 
aside and a young man entered. 

"Welcome," said the man, and he motioned 
to a place where the stranger should sit. 

Now during this day there had been blowing 
a warm wind which had melted the snow, so 
that the prairie was covered with water, yet 
this young man's moccasins and leggings were 
dry. They saw this, and were frightened. They 
sat there for a long time, saying nothing. 

Then the young man spoke and asked, "Why 
is this? Why do you not give me food?" 

"Ah," replied the father, "you see here peo- 
ple who are truly poor. We have no food. 
For many days the buffalo did not come in 

77 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

sight, and we looked for deer and other animals 
which people eat, and when these had all been 
killed we began to starve. Then I said, 'We 
will not stay here to die from hunger,' and we 
set out for the mountains. This is the fourth 
night of our travels." 

"Ah," said the young man, ''then your travels 
are ended. You need go no farther. Close 
by here is our piskun. Many buffalo have been 
run in, and our parfleches are filled with dried 
meat. Wait a little; I will go and bring you 
some," and he went out. 

As soon as he had gone they began to talk 
about this strange person. They were afraid 
of him and did not know what to do. The 
children began to cry, and the women tried to 
quiet them. Presently the young man came 
back, bringing some meat. 

"There is food," said he, as he put it down 
by the woman. "Now to-morrow move your 
camp over to our lodges. Do not fear anything. 
No matter what strange things you may see, do 
not fear. All will be your friends. Yet about 
one thing I must warn you. In this you should 

78 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

be careful. If you should find an arrow lying 
about anywhere, in the piskun or outside, do 
not touch it, neither you nor your wives nor 
your children." When he had said this he 
went out. 

The father took his pipe and filled it, and 
smoked and prayed to all the powers, saying, 
**Hear now. Sun; Hsten, Above People; listen, 
Underwater People; now you have taken pity; 
now you have given us food. We are going 
to those mysterious ones who walk through 
water with dry moccasins. Protect us among 
these to-be-feared people. Let us live. Man, 
woman, and child, give us long life." 

Now from the fire again arose the smell of 
roasting meat. The children ate and played. 
Those who so long had been silent now talked 
and laughed. 

Early in the morning, as soon as the sun had 
risen, they took down their lodge and packed 
their dogs and started for the camp of the 
stranger. When they had come to where they 
could see it, they found it a wonderful place. 
There around the piskun, and stretching far 

79 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

up and down the valley, were pitched the lodges 
of the meat eaters. They could not see them 
all, but near by they saw the lodges of the Bear 
band, the Fox band, and the Raven band. The 
father of the young man who had visited them 
and given them meat was the chief of the Wolf 
band, and by that band they pitched their 
lodge. Truly that was a happy place. Food 
was plenty. All day long people were shouting 
out for feasts, and everywhere was heard the 
sound of drumming and singing and dancing. 

The newly come people went to the piskun 
for meat, and there one of the children saw an 
arrow lying on the ground. It was a beautiful 
arrow, the stone point long, slender, and sharp, 
the shaft round and straight. The boy remem- 
bered what had been said and he looked around 
fearfully, but everywhere the people were busy. 
No one was looking. He picked up the arrow 
and put it under his robe. 

Then there rose a terrible sound. All the 
animals howled and growled and rushed toward 
him, but the chief Wolf got to him first, and 
holding up his hand said, "Wait. He is young 

80 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

and not yet of good sense. We will let him go 
this time." They did nothing to him. 

When night came some one shouted out, 
calling people to a feast and saying, "Listen, 
listen, Wolf, you are to eat; enter with your 
friend." 

"We are invited," said the chief Wolf to his 
new friend, and together they went to the lodge 
from which the call came. 

Within the lodge the fire burned brightly, 
and seated around it were many men, the old 
and wise of the Raven band. On the lodge 
lining, hanging behind the seats, were the paint- 
ings of many great deeds. Food was placed 
before the guests — pemican and berries and 
dried back fat — and after they had eaten the 
pipe was lighted and passed around the circle. 
Then the Raven chief spoke and said, "Now, 
Wolf, I am going to give our new friend a pres- 
ent. What do you think of that?" 

"It shall be as you say," replied the Wolf; 
"our new friend will be glad." 

From a long parfleche sack the Raven chief 
took a slender stick, beautifully ornamented 

81 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

with many-colored feathers. To the end of the 
stick was tied the skin of a raven — head, wings, 
feet, and tail. 

"We," said the Raven chief, "are those who 
carry the raven (Mas-to-pah'-ta-kiks) . Of all 
the fliers, of all the birds, what one is so smart 
as the raven? None. The raven's eyes are 
sharp, his wings are strong. He is a great 
hunter and never hungry. Far off on the 
prairie he sees his food, or if it is deep hidden 
in the forest it does not escape him. This is 
our song and our dance." 

When he had finished singing and dancing 
he placed the stick in the sack and gave it to 
the man and said, "Take it with you, and when 
you have returned to your people you shall 
say, 'Now there are already the Bulls, and he 
who is the Raven chief said, "There shall be more. 
There shall be the All Friends (Ikun-iih'- 
kah-tsi), so that the people may live, and of the 
All Friends shall be the Raven Bearers.'" You 
shall call a council of the chiefs and wise old 
men, and they shall choose the persons who are 
to belong to the society. Teach them the song 

82 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

and the dance, and give them the medicine. 
It shall be theirs forever." 

Soon they heard another person shouting out 
the feast call, and, going, they entered the lodge 
of the chief of the Kit-Foxes (Sin'-o-pah) . Here, 
too, old men had gathered. After they had 
eaten of the food set before them, the chief 
said, "Those among whom you have just come 
are generous. They do not look carefully at 
the things they have, but give to the stranger 
and pity the poor. The kit-fox is a little ani- 
mal, but what one is smarter.^ None. His hair 
is like the dead grass of the prairie; his eyes 
are keen; his feet make no noise when he walks; 
his brain is cunning. His ears receive the far- 
off sound. Here is our medicine. Take it." He 
gave the man the stick. It was long, crooked 
at one end, wound with fur, and tied here and 
there with eagle feathers. At the end was a 
kit-fox skin. Again the chief spoke and said, 
'* Listen to our song. Do not forget it, and the 
dance, too, you must remember. When you reach 
home teach them to the people." He sang and 
danced. Then presently his guests departed. 

83 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Again they heard the feast shout, and he who 
called was the chief of the Bear society. After 
they had eaten and smoked the chief said, 

''What is your opinion, friend Wolf? Shall 
we give our new friend a present?" 

"It shall be as you say," replied the Wolf. 
''It is yours to give." 

Then spoke the Bear, saying, "There are 
many animals and some of them are powerful; 
but the bear is the strongest and greatest of 
all. He fears nothing and is always ready to 
fight." 

Then he put on a necklace of bear claws, a 
band of bear fur about his head, and a belt of 
bear fur, and sang and danced. When he had 
finished he gave the things he had worn to the 
man and said, "Teach the people our song and 
our dance, and give them this medicine. It is 
powerful." 

It was very late. The Seven Stars had come 
to the middle of the night, yet again they heard 
the feast shout from the far end of the camp. 
In this lodge the men were painted with streaks 
of red, and their hair was all pushed to one side. 

84 



THE ALL COMRADES SOCIETIES 

After the feast the chief said, "We are different 
from all others here. We are called the Braves 
(Mut'-siks). We know not fear; we are death. 
Even if our enemies are as many as the grass 
we do not turn away, but fight and conquer. 
Bows are good weapons, lances are better; but 
our weapon is the knife." 

Then the chief sang and danced, and after- 
ward he gave the Wolf chief's friend the medi- 
cine. It was a long knife and many scalps were 
tied on the handle. "This," said he, "is for 
the All Friends." 

To one more lodge they were called that night 
and the lodge owner taught the man his song and 
dance, and gave him his medicine. Then the 
Wolf chief and his friend went home and slept. 

Early next day the Blackfeet women began 
to take down the lodge and to get ready to 
move their camp. Many women came and made 
them presents of food, dried meat, pemican, 
and berries. They were given so much that 
they could not take it all with them. It was 
long before they joined the main camp, for it 
had moved south, looking for buffalo. 

85 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

When they reached the camp, as soon as the 
lodge was pitched, the man called all the chiefs 
to come and feast with him, and told them what 
he had seen, and showed them the different 
medicines. Then the chiefs chose certain young 
men to belong to the different societies, and this 
man taught them the songs and dances, and 
gave its medicine to each society. 



86 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

THE chief god of the Blackfeet is the Sun. 
He made the world and rules it, and to 
him the people pray. One of his names is Napi 
— old man; but there is another Napi who is 
very different from the Sun, and instead of 
being great, wise, and wonderful, is foolish, 
mean, and contemptible. We shall hear about 
him further on. 

Every year in summer, about the time the 
berries ripen, the Blackfeet used to hold the 
great festival and sacrifice which we call the 
ceremony of the Medicine Lodge. This was 
a time of happy meetings, of feasting, of giving 
presents; but besides this rejoicing, those men 
who wished to have good-luck in whatever they 
might undertake tried to prove their prayers 
sincere by sacrificing their bodies, torturing 
themselves in ways that caused great suffering. 

87 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

In ancient times, as we are told in books of 
history, things hke that used to happen among 
many peoples all over the world. 

It was the law that the building of the Medi- 
cine Lodge must always be pledged by a good 
woman. If a woman had a son or a husband 
away at war and feared that he was in danger, 
or if she had a child that w^as sick and might 
die, she might pray for the safety of the one 
she loved, and promise that if he returned or 
recovered she would build a Medicine Lodge. 
This pledge was made in a loud voice, publicly, 
in open air, so that all might know the promise 
had been made. 

At the time appointed all the tribe came to- 
gether and pitched their lodges in a great circle, 
and within this circle the Medicine Lodge was 
built. The ceremony lasted for four days and 
four nights, during which time the woman who 
had promised to make the Medicine Lodge 
neither ate nor drank, except once in sacrifice. 
Different stories are told of how the first Medi- 
cine Lodge came to be built. This is one of 
those stories: 

88 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

In the earliest times there was a man who had 
a very beautiful daughter. Many young men 
wished to marry her, but whenever she was 
asked she shook her head and said she did not 
wish to marry. 

''Why is this?" said her father. ''Some of 
these young men are rich, handsome, and brave." 

"Why should I marry?" replied the girl. 
"My father and mother take care of me. Our 
lodge is good; the parfleches are never empty; 
there are plenty of tanned robes and soft furs 
for winter. Why trouble me, then?" 

Soon after, the Raven Bearers held a dance. 
They all painted themselves nicely and wore 
their finest ornaments and each one tried to 
dance the best. Afterward some of them asked 
for this girl, but she said, "No." After that the 
Bulls, the Kit-Foxes, and others of the All Com- 
rades held their dances, and many men who 
were rich and some great warriors asked this 
man for his daughter, but to every one she 
said, "No." 

Then her father was angry, and he said, "Why 
is this? All the best men have asked for you, 

89 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

and still you say 'No.'" Then the girl said, 
'* Father, listen to me. That Above Person, the 
Sun, said to me, 'Do not marry any of these 
men, for you belong to me. Listen to what I 
say, and you shall be happy and live to a great 
age.' And again he said to me, 'Take heed, 
you must not marry; you are mine.'" 

"Ah!" replied her father; "it must always be 
as he says"; and they spoke no more about it. 

There was a poor young man. He was very 
poor. His father, his mother, and all his rela- 
tions were dead. He had no lodge, no wife to 
tan his robes or make his moccasins. His 
clothes were always old and worn. He had 
no home. To-day he stopped in one lodge; 
then to-morrow he ate and slept in another. 
Thus he lived. He had a good face, but on his 
cheek was a bad scar. 

After they had held those dances, some of 
the young men met this poor Scarface, and they 
laughed at him and said, "Why do not you ask 
that girl to marry you? You are so rich and 
handsome." 

Scarface did not laugh. He looked at them 

90 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

and said, "I will do as you say; I will go and 
ask her." 

All the young men thought this was funny; 
they laughed a good deal at Scarface as he was 
walking away. 

Scarface went down by the river and waited 
there, near the place where the women went to 
get water. By and by the girl came there. 
Scarface spoke to her, and said, "Girl, stop; I 
want to speak with you. I do not wish to do any- 
thing secretly, but I speak to you here openly, 
where the Sun looks down and all may see." 

"Speak, then," said the girl. 

"I have seen the days," said Scarface. "I 
have seen how you have refused all those men, 
who are young and rich and brave. To-day 
some of these young men laughed and said to 
me, 'Why do not you ask her?' I am poor. 
I have no lodge, no food, no clothes, no robes. 
I have no relations. All of them have died. 
Yet now to-day I say to you, take pity. Be my 
wife." 

The girl hid her face in her robe and brushed 
the ground with the point of her moccasin, 

91 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

back and forth, back and forth, for she was 
thinking. 

After a time she spoke and said, "It is true 
I have refused all those rich young men; yet 
now a poor one asks me, and I am glad. I will 
be your wife, and my people will be glad. You 
are poor, but that does not matter. My father 
will give you dogs; my mother will make us a 
lodge; my relations will give us robes and furs; 
you will no longer be poor." 

Then the young man was glad, and he started 
forward to kiss her, but she put out her hand 
and held him back, and said, ''Wait; the Sun 
has spoken to me. He said I may not marry; 
that I belong to him; that if I listen to him I 
shall live to great age. So now I say, go to 
the Sun; say to him, 'She whom you spoke with 
has listened to your words; she has never done 
wrong, but now she wants to marry. I want 
her for my wife.' Ask him to take that scar 
from your face; that will be his sign, and I shall 
know he is pleased. But if he refuses, or if 
you cannot find his lodge, then do not return 
to me." 

92 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

"Oh!" cried Scarf ace; ''at first your words 
were good. I was glad. But now it is dark. 
My heart is dead. Where is that far-off lodge .^ 
Where is the trail that no one yet has travelled? " 

"Take courage, take courage," said the girl 
softly, and she went on to her lodge. 

Scarface was very unhappy. He did not 
know what to do. He sat down and covered 
his face with his robe, and tried to think. At 
length he stood up and went to an old woman 
who had been kind to him, and said to her, 
"Pity me. I am very poor. I am going away, 
on a long journey. Make me some moccasins." 

"Where are you going — far from the camp.^" 
asked the old woman. 

"I do not know where I am going," he re- 
plied; "I am in trouble, but I cannot talk 
about it." 

This old woman had a kind heart. She made 
him moccasins — seven pairs; and gave him also 
a sack of food — pemican, dried meat, and 
back fat. 

All alone, and with a sad heart, Scarface 
climbed the bluff that overlooked the valley, 

93 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

and when he had reached the top, turned to 
look back at the camp. He wondered if he 
should ever see it again; if he should return 
to the girl and to the people. 

"Pity me, O Sun!" he prayed; and turning 
away, he set off to look for the trail to the Sun's 
lodge. 

For many days he went on. He crossed 
great prairies and followed up timbered rivers, 
and crossed the mountains. Every day his 
sack of food grew lighter, but as he went along 
he looked for berries and roots, and sometimes 
he killed an animal. These things gave him 
food. 

One night he came to the home of a wolf. 
"Hah!" said the wolf; "what are you doing so 
far from your home .^" 

"I am looking for the place where the Sun 
lives," replied Scarf ace. "I have been sent to 
speak with him." 

"I have travelled over much country," said 
the wolf; "I know all the prairies, the valleys, 
and the mountains; but I have never seen the 
Sun's home. But wait a moment. I know a 

94 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

person who is very wise, and who may be able 
to tell you the road. Ask the bear." 

The next day Scarface went on again, stop- 
ping now and then to rest and to pick berries, 
and when night came he was at the bear's lodge. 

"Where is your home?" asked the bear. 
"Why are you travelling so far alone?" 

"Ah," replied the man, "I have come to you 
for help. Pity me. Because of what that girl 
said to me, I am looking for the Sun. I wish 
to ask him for her." 

"I do not know where he lives," said the 
bear. "I have travelled by many rivers and I 
know the mountains, yet I have not seen his 
lodge. Farther on there is some one — that 
striped face — who knows a great deal; ask him." 

When the young man got there, the badger 
was in his hole. But Scarface called to him, 
"Oh, cunning striped face! I wish to speak 
with you." 

The badger put his head out of the hole and 
said, "What do you w^ant, my brother?" 

"I wish to find the Sun's home," said Scar- 
face. "I wish to speak with him." 

95 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

"I do not know where he hves," answered 
the badger. "I never travel very far. Over 
there in the timber is the wolverene. He is 
always travelHng about, and knows many 
things. Perhaps he can tell you." 

Scarf ace went over to the forest and looked all 
about for the wolverene, but could not see him; 
so he sat down on a log to rest. ''Alas, alas!" 
he cried; "wolverene, take pity on me. My 
food is gone, my moccasins are worn out; I 
fear I shall die." 

Some one close to him said, "What is it, my 
brother.^" and looking around, he saw the 
wolverene sitting there. 

"She whom I wish to marry belongs to the 
Sun," said Scarf ace; "I am trying to find where 
he lives, so that I may ask him for her." 

"Ah," said the wolverene, "I know where he 
lives. It is nearly night now, but to-morrow 
I will show you the trail to the big water. He 
lives on the other side of it." 

Early in the morning they set out, and the 
wolverene showed Scarface the trail, and he 
followed it until he came to the water's edge. 

96 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

When he looked out over it, his heart almost 
stopped. Never before had any one seen such 
a great water. The other side could not be 
seen and there was no end to it. Scarface sat 
down on the shore. This seemed the end. His 
food was gone; his moccasins were worn out; 
he had no longer strength, no longer courage; 
his heart was sick. "I cannot cross this great 
water," he said. "I cannot return to the peo- 
ple. Here by this water I shall die." 

Yet, even as he thought this, helpers were 
near. Two swans came swimming up to the 
shore and said to him, "Why have you come 
here? What are you doing? It is very far 
to the place where your people live." 

"I have come here to die," replied Scarface. 
"Far away in my country is a beautiful girl. I 
want to marry her, but she belongs to the Sun; 
so I set out to find him and ask him for her. I 
have travelled many days. My food is gone. 
I cannot go back; I cannot cross this great 
water; so I must die." 

"No," said the swans; "it shall not be so. 
Across this water is the home of that Above 

97 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Person. Get on our backs, and we will take you 
there." 

Searface stood up. Now he felt strong and 
full of courage. He waded out into the water 
and lay down on the swans' backs, and they 
swam away. It was a fearful journey, for that 
water was deep and black, and in it live strange 
people and great animals which might reach up 
and seize a person and pull him down under the 
water; yet the swans carried Searface safely 
to the other side. There was seen a broad, hard 
trail leading back from the water's edge. 

"There," said the swans; ''y^^ ^^^ ^^w close 
to the Sun's lodge. Follow that trail, and soon 
you will see it." 

Searface started to walk along the trail, and 
after he had gone a little way he came to some 
beautiful things lying in the trail. There was 
a war shirt, a shield, a bow, and a quiver of 
arrows. He had never seen such fine w^eapons. 
He looked at them, but he did not touch them, 
and at last walked around them and went on. 
A little farther along he met a young man, a 
very handsome person. His hair was long; his 

98 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

clothing was made of strange skins, and his 
moccasins were sewed with bright feathers. 

The young man spoke to him and asked, 
"Did you see some weapons lying in the trail?" 

"Yes," replied Scarf ace, "I saw them." 

"Did you touch them?" said the young man. 

"No," said Scarf ace; "I supposed some one 
had left them there, and I did not touch them." 

"You do not meddle with the property of 
others," said the young man. "What is your 
name, and where are you going?" Scarf ace 
told him. Then said the young man, "My 
name is Early Riser (the morning star). The 
Sun is my father. Come, I will take you to 
our lodge. My father is not at home now, but 
he will return at night." 

At length they came to the lodge. It was 
large and handsome, and on it were painted 
strange medicine animals. On a tripod behind 
the lodge were the Sun's weapons and his war 
clothing. Scarface was ashamed to go into the 
lodge, but Morning Star said, "Friend, do not 
be afraid; we are glad you have come." 

When they went in a woman was sitting 

99 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

there, the Moon, the Sun's wife and the mother 
of Morning Star. She spoke to Scarf ace kindly 
and gave him food to eat, and when he had eaten 
she asked, "Why have you come so far from 
your people?" 

So Scarface told her about the beautiful girl 
that he wished to marry and said, ''She belongs 
to the Sun. I have come to ask him for her." 

When it was almost night, and time for the 
Sun to come home, the Moon hid Scarface under 
a pile of robes. As soon as the Sun got to the 
doorway he said, "A strange person is here." 

"Yes, father," said Morning Star, "a young 
man has come to see you. He is a good young 
man, for he found some of my things in the trail 
and did not touch them." 

Scarface came out from under the robes and 
the Sun entered the lodge and sat down. He 
spoke to Scarface and said, "I am glad you 
have come to our lodge. Stay with us as long 
as you like. Sometimes my son is lonely. Be 
his friend." 

The next day the two young men were talk- 
ing about going hunting and the Moon spoke 

100 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

to Scarf ace and said, *'Go with my son where 
you hke, but do not hunt near that big water. 
Do not let him go there. That is the home of 
great birds with long, sharp bills. They kill 
people. I have had many sons, but these birds 
have killed them all. Only Morning Star is left." 

Scarface stayed a long time in the Sun's 
lodge, and every day went hunting with Morn- 
ing Star. One day they came near the water 
and saw the big birds. 

*'Come on," said Morning Star, ''let us go 
and kill those birds." 

''No, no," said Scarface, "we must not go 
there. Those are terrible birds; they will kill 
us." 

Morning Star would not listen. He ran 
toward the water and Scarface ran after him, 
for he knew that he must kill the birds and 
save the boy's life. He ran ahead of Morning 
Star and met the birds, which were coming to 
fight, and killed every one of them with his 
spear; not one w^as left. The young men cut 
off the heads of the birds and carried them home, 
and when Morning Star's mother heard what 

101 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

they had done, and they showed her the birds' 
heads, she was glad. She cried over the two 
young men and called Scarf ace ''My son," and 
when the Sun came home at night she told him 
about it, and he too was glad. 

"My son," he said to Scarf ace, "I will not 
forget what you have this day done for me. 
Tell me now what I can do for you; what is 
your trouble?" 

"Alas, alas!" replied Scarf ace, "Pity me. I 
came here to ask you for that girl. I want to 
marry her. I asked her and she was glad, but 
she says that she belongs to you, and that you 
told her not to marry." 

"What you say is true," replied the Sun. 
"I have seen the days and all that she has done. 
Now I give her to you. She is yours. I am 
glad that she has been wise, and I know that 
she has never done wrong. The Sun takes care 
of good women; they shall live a long time, 
and so shall their husbands and children. 

"Now, soon you will go home. I wish to tell 
you something and you must be wise and listen. 
I am the only chief; everything is mine; I 

102 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

made the earth, the mountains, the prairies, 
the rivers, and the forests; I made the people 
and all the animals. This is why I say that I 
alone am chief. I can never die. It is true the 
winter makes me old and weak, but every sum- 
mer I grow young again. 

'*What one of all the animals is the smart- 
est?" the Sun went on. "It is the raven, for he 
always finds food; he is never hungry. Which 
one of all the animals is the most to be rever- 
enced? It is the buffalo; of all the animals I 
like him best. He is for the people; he is your 
food and your shelter. What part of his body 
is sacred? It is the tongue; that belongs to me. 
W^hat else is sacred? Berries. They too are 
mine. Come with me now and see the world." 

The Sun took Scarface to the edge of the sky 
and they looked down and saw the world. It is 
flat and round, and all around the edge it goes 
straight down. Then said the Sun, "If any 
man is sick or in danger his wife may promise 
to build me a lodge if he recovers. If the w^oman 
is good, then I shall be pleased and help the 
man; but if she is not good, or if she lies, then I 

103 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

shall be angry. You shall build the lodge hke 
the world, round, with walls, but first you must 
build a sweat-lodge of one hundred sticks. It 
shall be arched like the sky, and one-half of it 
shall be painted red for me, the other half you 
shall paint black for the night." He told Scar- 
face all about making the Medicine Lodge, and 
when he had finished speaking, he rubbed some 
medicine on the young man's face and the scar 
that had been there disappeared. He gave 
him two raven feathers, saying: "These are a 
sign for the girl that I give her to you. They 
must always be worn by the husband of the 
woman who builds a Medicine Lodge." 

Now Scarface was ready to return home. 
The Sun and Morning Star gave him many good 
presents; the Moon cried and kissed him and 
was sorry to see him go. Then the Sun showed 
him the short trail. It was the Wolf Road — 
the Milky Way. He followed it and soon 
reached the ground. 

It was a very hot day. All the lodge skins 
were raised and the people sat in the shade. 

104 



THE FIRST MEDICINE LODGE 

There was a chief, a very generous man, who all 
day long was calKng out for feasts, and people 
kept coming to his lodge to eat and smoke with 
him. Early in the morning this chief saw sit- 
ting on a butte near by a person close-wrapped 
in his robe. All day long this person sat there 
and did not move. When it was almost night 
the chief said, "That person has sat there all 
day in the strong heat, and he has not eaten 
nor drunk. Perhaps he is a stranger. Go and 
ask him to come to my lodge." 

Some young men ran up to the person and 
said to him, *'Why have you sat here all day 
in the great heat? Come to the shade of the 
lodges. The chief asks you to eat with him." 
The person rose and threw off his robe and 
the young men were surprised. He wore fine 
clothing; his bow, shield, and other weapons 
were of strange make; but they knew his face, 
although the scar was gone, and they ran ahead, 
shouting, "The Scarf ace poor young man has 
come. He is poor no longer. The scar on his 
face is gone." 

All the people hurried out to see him and to 
105 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

ask him questions. ''Where did you get all 
these fine things?" He did not answer. There 
in the crowd stood that young woman, and, 
taking the two raven feathers from his head, he 
gave them to her and said, ''The trail was long 
and I nearly died, but by those helpers I found 
his lodge. He is glad. He sends these feathers 
to you. They are the sign." 

Great was her gladness then. They were 
married and made the first Medicine Lodge, as 
the Sun had said. The Sun was glad. He gave 
them great age. They were never sick. When 
they were very old, one morning their children 
called to them, "Awake, rise and eat." They 
did not move. 

In the night, together, in sleep, without pain, 
their shadows had departed to the Sandhills. 



106 



THE BUFFALO-PAINTED LODGES 

THE old lodges of the Piegans were made of 
buffalo skin and were painted with pict- 
ures of different kinds — birds, or animals, or 
trees, or mountains. It is believed that in 
most cases the first painter of any lodge was 
taught how he should paint it in a dream, but 
this was not always the case. 

Two of the most important lodges in the 
Blackfeet camp are known as the Inis'kim 
lodges. Both are painted with figures of buf- 
falo, one with black buffalo, and the other with 
yellow buffalo. Certain of the Inis'kim are kept 
in these lodges and can be kept in no others. 

This story tells how these two lodges came 
to be made. 

The painters were told what to do long, long 
ago, "in about the second generation after the 
first people." 

In those days the old Piegans lived in the 
107 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

north, close to the Red Deer River. The camp 
moved, and the lodges were pitched on the river. 
One day two old men who were close friends 
had gone out from the camp to find some straight 
cherry shoots with which to make arrows. 
After they had gathered their shafts, they sat 
down on a high bank by the river and began to 
peel the bark from the shoots. The river was 
high. One of these men was named Weasel 
Heart and the other Fisher. 

As they sat there. Weasel Heart chanced to 
look down into the water and saw something. 
He said to his comrade, '* Friend, do you not 
see something down there where the water 
goes around.^" 

Fisher said, ''No; I see nothing except buf- 
falo," for he was looking across the river to the 
other side, and not down into the water. 

"No," said Weasel Heart; "I do not mean over 
there on the prairie. Look down into that deep 
hole in the river, and you will see a lodge there." 

Fisher looked as he had been told, and saw 
the lodge. 

Weasel Heart said, "There is a lodge painted 
108 



THE BUFFALO-PAINTED LODGES 

with black buffalo." As he spoke thus, Fisher 
said, **I see another lodge, standing in front of 
it." Weasel Heart saw that lodge too — the 
yellow-painted-buffalo lodge. 

The two men wondered at this and could not 
understand how it could be, but they were both 
men of strong hearts, and presently Weasel 
Heart said, *' Friend, I shall go down to enter 
that lodge. Do you sit here and tell me when 
I get to the place." Then Weasel Heart went 
up the river and found a drift-log to support 
him and pushed it out into the water, and 
floated down toward the cut bank. When he 
had reached the place where the lodge stood 
Fisher told him, and he let go the log and dived 
down into the water and entered the lodge. 

In it he found two persons who owned the 
lodge, a man and his wife. The man said to 
him, "You are welcome," and Weasel Heart 
sat down. Then spoke the owner of the lodge 
saying, "My son, this is my lodge, and I give it 
to you. Look well at it inside and outside; 
and make your lodge like this. If you do that, 
it may be a help to you." 

109 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Fisher sat a long time waiting for his friend, 
but at last he looked down the stream and saw 
a man on the shore walking toward him. He 
came along the bank until he had reached his 
friend. It was Weasel Heart. 

Fisher said to him, ''I have been waiting a 
long time, and I was afraid that something bad 
had happened to you." 

Weasel Heart asked him, '*Did you see me?" 

"I saw you," said Fisher, *'when you went 
into that lodge. Did you, when you came out 
of the lodge, see there in the water another lodge 
painted with yellow buffalo? Is it still there?" 

Weasel Heart said, "I saw it; it is there. 
Go you into the water as I did." 

Then Fisher went up the stream as his friend 
had gone and entered the water at the same 
place and swam down as Weasel Heart had 
done, and when Weasel Heart showed him the 
place he dived down and disappeared as Weasel 
Heart had disappeared. He entered the yellow- 
painted-buffalo lodge, and his friend saw him go 
into it. 

In the lodge were two persons, a man and his 
110 



THE BUFFALO-PAINTED LODGES 

wife. The man said to him, "You are welcome; 
sit there." He spoke further, saying, "My son, 
you have seen this lodge of mine; I give it to 
you. Look carefully at it, inside and outside, 
and fix up your lodge in that way. It may be 
a help to you hereafter." Then Fisher went out. 

Weasel Heart waited for his friend as long 
as Fisher had waited for him, and when Fisher 
came out of the water it was at the place where 
Weasel Heart had come out. Then the two 
friends went home to the camp. 

When the two had come to a hill near the 
camp they met a young man, and by him sent 
word that the people should make a sweat-house 
for them. After the sweat-house had been 
made, word was sent to them, and they entered 
the camp and went into the sweat-house and 
took a sweat, and all the time while they were 
sweating, sand was falling from their bodies. 

Some time after that the people moved camp 
and went out and killed buffalo, and these two 
men made two lodges, and painted them just 
as the lodges were painted that they had seen in 
the river. 

Ill 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

These two men had strong power which came 
to them from the Under-water People. 

Once the people wished to cross the river, 
but the stream was deep and it was always 
hard for them to get across. Often the dogs 
and the travois were swept away and the people 
lost many of their things. At this time the 
tribe wished to cross, and Fisher and Weasel 
Heart said to each other, "The people want 
to cross the river, but it is high and they cannot 
do so. Let us try to make a crossing, so that 
it will be easier for them." So Weasel Heart 
alone crossed the river and sat on the bank 
on the other side, and Fisher sat opposite to 
him on the bank where the camp was. 

Then Fisher said to the people, ''Pack up 
your things now and get ready to cross. I will 
make a place where you can cross easily." 

Weasel Heart and Fisher filled their pipes 
and smoked, and then each started to cross 
the river. As each stepped into the water, the 
river began to go down and the crossing grew 
more and more shallow. The people with all 
their dogs followed close behind Fisher, as he 

112 



THE BUFFALO-PAINTED LODGES 

had told them to do. Fisher and Weasel Heart 
met in the middle of the river, and when they 
met they stepped to one side up the stream and 
let the people pass them. Ever since that day 
this has been a shallow crossing. 

These lodges came from the Under-water 
People — Su'ye-tiip'pi. They were those who 
had owned them and who had been kind to 
Weasel Heart and Fisher. 



113 



MIKATI— RED OLD MAN 

IN Montana, running into the Missouri River 
from the south, is a Httle stream that the 
Blackfeet call ''It Fell on Them." Once, long, 
long ago, while a number of women were dig- 
ging in a bank near this stream for the red 
earth that they used as paint, the bank gave 
way and fell on them, burying and killing them. 
The white people call this Armell's Creek. 

It was on this stream near the mountains 
that the Piegans were camped when Mika'pi 
went to war. This was long ago. 

Early in the morning a herd of buffalo had 
been seen feeding on the slopes of the moun- 
tains, and some hunters went out to kill them. 
Travelling carefully up the ravines, and keeping 
out of sight of the herd, they came close to them, 
near enough to shoot their arrows, and they 
began to kill fat cows. But while they were 
doing this a war party of Snakes that had been 

114 



MIKA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

hidden on the mountainside attacked them, and 
the Piegans began to run back toward their 
camp. 

One of them, called Fox Eye, was a brave 
man, and shouted to the others to stop and wait, 
saying, ''Let us fight these people; the Snakes 
are not brave; we can drive them back." But 
the other Piegans would not listen to him; they 
made excuses, saying, ''We have no shields; 
our war medicine is not here; there are many 
of them; why should we stop here to die?" 
They ran on to the camp, but Fox Eye would 
not run. Hiding behind a rock he prepared 
to fight, but as he was looking for some enemy 
to shoot at, holding his arrow on the string, a 
Snake had crept up on the bank above him; 
the Piegan heard the twang of the bowstring, 
and the long, fine arrow passed through his 
body. His bow and arrow dropped from his 
hands, and he fell forward, dead. Now, too late, 
the warriors came rushing out from the Piegan 
camp to help him, but the Snakes scalped their 
enemy, scattered up the mountain, and soon 
were hidden in the timber. 

115 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Fox Eye had two wives, and their father and 
mother and all their near relations were dead. 
All Fox Eye's relations had died. So it hap- 
pened that these poor widows had no one to 
help them — no one to take vengeance for the 
killing of their husband. 

All day long, and often far into the night, these 
two sat on a near-by hill and wailed, and their 
mourning was sad. 

There was a young man named Mika'pi. 
Every morning when he awoke he heard the 
mourning of these poor widows, and all through 
the day he could not forget their sorrow. He 
pitied them. One day he sent his mother to 
them, to tell them that he wished to speak with 
them. When they had come to the lodge they 
entered and sat down close by the doorway and 
covered their heads. 

''Listen!" said Mika'pi. "For days and nights 
I have heard your mourning, and I too have 
mourned. Your husband was my close friend, 
and now he is dead, and no relations are left to 
avenge him. So now I say to you, I will take 
the load from your hearts; I will go to war and 

116 



MIKA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

kill enemies and take scalps, and when I return 
they shall be yours. I will wipe away your tears, 
and we shall be glad that Fox Eye is avenged." 

When the people heard that Mika'pi was 
going to war many young men wished to join 
him, but he refused. "I shall go alone," he 
said. So when he had taken a medicine sweat 
and had asked a priest to pray for him in his 
absence, he left the camp one evening, just as 
it was growing dark. 

It is only the foolish warrior who travels in 
the day. The wise one knows that war-parties 
may be out, or that some camp watcher sitting 
on a hill may see him far off and may try to 
kill him. Mika'pi was not one of these foolish 
persons. He was brave and cautious, and he 
had powerful helpers. Some have said that he 
was helped by the ghosts. When he started to 
war against the Snakes he travelled in low 
places, and at sunrise he climbed some hill 
near by and looked carefully over the country 
in all directions, and during all the long day 
he lay there and watched, sleeping often, but 
only for a short time. 

117 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

When Mika'pi had come to the Great Place 
of Falhng Water,* it began to rain hard, and, 
looking about for a place to sleep, he saw a hole 
in the rocks and crept in and lay down at the 
farther end. The rain did not stop, and when 
it grew dark he could not travel because of the 
darkness and the storm, so he lay down to 
sleep again; but before he had fallen asleep he 
heard something at the mouth of the cave, and 
then something creeping toward him. Then 
soon something touched his breast, and he put 
out his hand and felt a person. Then he sat up. 

Mika'pi stretched out his hand and put its 
palm on the person's breast and moved his hand 
quickly from side to side, and then touched 
the person with the point of his finger, which 
in sign language means, ''Who are you?" The 
stranger took Mika'pi's hand and made him 
feel of his own right hand. The thumb and 
fingers were closed except the forefinger, which 
was extended. When Mika'pi's hand was on 
the stranger's hand the person moved his hand 
forward with a zigzag motion, meaning Snake. 

* The Great Falls of the Missouri. 

118 



MIKA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

Mika'pi was glad. Here had come to him 
one of the tribe he was seeking, yet he thought 
it better to wait for a time before fighting him; 
so when, in signs, the Snake asked Mika'pi who 
he was he rephed, by making the sign for pad- 
dhng a canoe, that he was a River person, for 
he knew that the Snakes and the River people, 
or Pend d'Oreilles, were at peace. Then the 
two lay down for the night, but Mika'pi did 
not sleep. Through the long night he watched 
for the first light, so that he might kill his enemy; 
and just at daybreak Mika'pi, without noise, 
strung his bow, fitted an arrow to the string, 
and sent the thin shaft through his enemy's 
heart. The Snake half rose up and fell back 
dead. Mika'pi scalped him, took his bow and 
arrows and his bundle of moccasins, and went 
out of the cave and looked all about. Day- 
light had come, but no one was in sight. Per- 
haps, like himself, the Snake had gone to war 
alone. Mika'pi did not forget to be careful 
because he had been fortunate. He travelled 
only a little way, and then hid himself and 
waited for night before going on. After drink- 

119 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

ing from the river he ate and, dimbing up on 
a high rock wall, he slept. 

He dreamed that he fought with strange peo- 
ple and was wounded. He felt blood trickling 
from his wounds, and when he awoke he knew 
that he had been warned to turn back. Other 
signs were bad. He saw an eagle rising carry- 
ing a snake, which dropped from its claws. 
The setting sun too was painted, a sure warn- 
ing that danger was near. In spite of all these 
things Mika'pi determined to go on. He thought 
of the poor widows mourning; he thought of 
the welcome of the people if he should return 
with scalps; he thought also of two young sis- 
ters whom he wished to marry. If he could 
return with proof of brave deeds, they would 
think well of him. 

Mika'pi travelled onward. 

The sun had already disappeared behind the 
sharp pointed dark peaks of the mountains. 
It was nearly night. As the light grew dim, 
the far stretching prairie began to be hidden. 
By a stream in a valley where grew large and 

120 



MIKA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

small trees were the lodges of a great camp. 
For a long distance up and down the river rose 
the smokes of many fires. 

On a hill overlooking the valley sat a person 
alone. His robe was drawn close about him, 
and he sat there without moving, looking down 
on the valley and out on the prairie above it. 
Perhaps he was watching for enemies; perhaps 
he was praying. 

Creeping through the grass behind this per- 
son, something was slowly drawing near to 
him. There was no noise, the watcher heard 
nothing; still he sat there, looking out over the 
prairie, and turning his head neither to the 
right nor the left. This thing behind him kept 
creeping closer, and presently it was so near it 
could touch the man. Perhaps then there w^as 
some little rustle of the grass, and the watcher 
turned his head. It was too late. A strong 
arm around his neck bent his head back, a hand 
covered his mouth, a long stone knife was 
thrust into his breast, and he died in silence. 
The fading light had kept people in the camp 
from seeing what had happened. 

121 



BLACKTEET INDIAN STORIES 

The man who had used the knife scalped his 
enemy, and slowly, hidden by the grass, crept 
down the hill that he had just ascended, and 
when he reached the cover of a low place 
Mika'pi rose to his feet and crept away. He had 
another Snake scalp tied to his belt. His heart 
was glad, but he was not satisfied. 

Several nights had passed since the signs 
warned him to turn back, but notwithstanding 
the warnings, he had succeeded. Perhaps his 
success had made him too confident. He longed 
for more of it. "One more scalp I shall take," 
he said, "and then I will return to the people." 

He climbed far up the mountainside and hid 
among the pines and slept, but when day came 
he awoke and crept out to a point where he 
could see the camp. He saw the smoke rising 
as the women kindled their morning fires; he 
saw the people going about through the camp, 
and then presently he saw many people rush 
up on the hill where he had left the dead enemy. 
He could not hear their angry cries, nor their 
mournful wailings, but he knew how badly they 
felt, and he sung a song, for he was happy. 

122 



MIKA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

Once more the sun had disappeared behind 
the mountains, and as darkness grew Mika'pi 
came down from where he had been hiding and 
carefully approached the camp. Now was a 
time of danger. Now watchers might be hid- 
den anywhere, looking for the approach of ene- 
mies, ready to raise a cry to warn the camp. 
Each bush or clump of rye grass or willow 
thicket might hide an enemy. Very slowly, 
looking and listening, Mika'pi crept around 
the outskirts of the camp. He made no noise, 
he did not show himself. Presently he heard 
some one clear his throat and then a cough, 
and a little bush moved. Here was a watcher. 
Could he kill him and get away.^^ He sat and 
waited to see what would happen, for he knew 
where his enemy was, but the enemy knew noth- 
ing of him. The great moon rose over the 
eastern prairie and climbed high and began to 
travel across the sky. Seven Persons swung 
around and pointed downward. It was about 
the middle of the night. At length the person 
in the bush grew tired of watching; he thought 
no enemy could be near and he rose and stretched 

123 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

out his arms and yawned, but even as he stood 
an arrow pierced him through, beneath the 
arms. He gave a loud cry and tried to run, but 
another arrow struck him, and he fell. 

And now from out the camp rushed the war- 
riors toward the sound, but even as they came 
Mika'pi had taken the scalp from his enemy 
and started to run away into the darkness. The 
moon was bright, and close behind him were 
the Snakes. He heard arrows flying by him, 
and presently one passed through his arm. He 
pulled it out and threw it from him. Another 
struck his leg, and he fell, and a great shout 
arose from the Snakes. Now their enemy was 
down and revenge for the two lives lately taken 
was certain. 

But Mika'pi's helpers were not far off. It 
was at the very verge of a high cut wall over- 
hanging the river that Mika'pi fell, and even as 
the Snakes shouted he rolled over the brink 
into the dark rushing water below. The Snakes 
ran along the edge of the river, looking into the 
water, with bent bows watching for the enemy's 
head or body to appear, but they saw nothing. 

124 



MIKA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

Carefully they looked along the shores and 
sandbars; they did not find him. 

Mika'pi had sunk deep in the water. The 
swift current carried him along, and when he 
rose to the surface he was beyond his enemies. 
For some time he floated on, but the arrow in 
his leg pained him and at last he crept out on a 
sandbar. He managed to draw the arrow from 
his leg, and finding at the edge of the bar a dry 
log, he rolled it into the water, and keeping 
his hands on it, drifted down the river with 
the current. Cold and stiff from his wounds, 
he crept out on the bank and lay down in the 
warm sunshine. Soon he fell asleep. 

When he awoke the sun was in the middle of 
the sky. His leg and arm were swollen and 
pained him, yet he started to go home, and for 
a time struggled onward; but at last, tired and 
discouraged, he sat down. 

''Ah," he said to himself, "true were the 
signs! How crazy I was to go against them! 
Now my bravery has been useless, for here I 
must stop and die. The widows will still 
mourn, and who will care for my . father and 

125 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

mother in their old age? Pity me now, O 
Sun; help me, O Great Above Person! Give 
me life!" 

Something was coming through the brush 
near him, breaking the sticks as it walked. 
Was it the Snakes following his trail? Mika'pi 
strung his bow and drew his arrows from the 
quiver. He waited. 

No, it was not a Snake; it was a bear, a big 
grizzly bear, standing there looking down at 
Mika'pi. ''What is my brother doing here?" 
said the bear. "Why does he pray for life?" 

"Look at my leg," said Mika'pi; "swollen 
and sore. See my wounded arm; I can hardly 
hold the bow. Far away is the home of my 
people, and my strength is gone. Surely here 
I must die, for I cannot walk, and I have no 
food." 

"Take courage, my brother," said the bear. 
"Keep up a strong heart, for I will help you, 
and you shall have life.'' 

When he had said this he lifted Mika'pi in 
his arms and took him to a place where there 
was thick mud, and there he took great hand- 

126 



MIKA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

fuls of the mud and plastered it on the wounds, 
and while he was putting on the mud he sang a 
medicine song. Then he carried Mika'pi to a 
place where there were many service berries, 
and he broke off great branches of the fruit and 
gave them to him, saying, "Eat, my brother, 
eat." He kept breaking off branches full of 
large, ripe berries until Mika'pi was full and 
could eat no more. 

Then said the bear, "Now lie down on my 
back and hold tight by my hair and we will go 
on"; and when Mika'pi had got on his back 
and was ready the bear started. All through 
the night he travelled on without stopping, and 
when morning came they rested for a time and 
ate more berries, and again the bear put mud 
upon the man's wounds. In this way they 
travelled on, until, on the fourth day, they had 
come close to the lodges of the Piegans and the 
people saw them coming, and wondered. 

"Get off now, my brother, get off," said the 
bear. "There is the camp of your people. I 
shall leave you"; and at once he turned and 
went off up the mountain. 

127 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

All the people came out to meet Mika'pi, and 
they carried him to his father's lodge. He 
untied the scalps from his belt and gave them 
to the poor widows, saying, "These are the 
scalps of your enemies; I wipe away your tears." 
Then every one rejoiced. All Mika'pi's women 
relations went through the camp, shouting out 
his name and singing songs about him, and all 
prepared to dance the dance of triumph and 
rejoicing. 

First came the widows. They carried the 
scalps tied on poles, and their faces were painted 
black. Then came the medicine men, with 
their medicine pipes unwrapped, and then the 
bands of the All Friends dressed in their war 
costumes; then came the old men; and, last of 
all, the women and children. They went all 
through the village, stopping here and there to 
dance, and Mika'pi sat outside the lodge and 
saw all the people dance by him. He forgot 
his pain and was happy, and although he could 
not dance, he sung with them. 

Soon they made the medicine lodge, and first 
of all the warriors, Mika'pi was chosen to cut 

128 



mTkA'PI— RED OLD MAN 

the rawhide to bind the poles, and as he cut 
the strips he related the coups he had counted. 
He told of the enemies he had killed, and all 
the people shouted his name and the drummers 
struck the drum. The father of those two sis- 
ters gave them to him. He was glad to have 
such a son-in-law. 

Long lived Mika'pi. Of all the great chiefs 
who have lived and died he was the greatest. 
He did many other great things. It must be 
true, as the old men have said, that he was 
helped by the ghosts, for no one can do such 
things without help from those fearful and ter- 
rible persons. 



129 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

LONG, long ago, Red Robe and Talking Rock 
■^ were young men in the Blackfeet camp. 
In their childhood days and early youth their 
life had been hard. Talking Rock was an orphan 
without a single relation and Red Robe had only 
his old grandmother. 

This old woman, by hard work and sacrifice, 
had managed to rear the boys. She tanned robes 
for the hunters, made them moccasins worked 
with porcupine quills, and did everything she 
could to get a little food or worn out robes and 
hide, from which she made clothes for her boys. 
They never had new, brightly painted calf 
robes, like other children. They went barefoot 
in summer, and in winter their toes often showed 
through the worn out skin of their moccasins. 
They had no flesh. Their ribs could be counted 
beneath the skin; their cheeks were hollow; 
they looked always hungry. 

130 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

When they grew to be twelve or fifteen years 
old they began to do better, for now they 
could do more and more for themselves. They 
herded horses and performed small services for 
the wealthy men; then, too, they hunted and 
killed a little meat. Now, for their work, three 
or four dogs were given them, so with the two 
the old woman owned, they were able to pack 
their small lodge and other possessions when 
the camp moved, instead of carrying everything 
on their backs. 

Now they began to do their best to make life 
easier for the good old woman who had worked 
so hard to keep them from starving and freezing. 

Time passed. The boys grew old enough 
to go out and fast. They had their dreams. 
Each found his secret helper of mysterious 
power, and each became a warrior. Still they 
were very poor, compared with other young 
men of their age. They had bows, but only a 
few arrows. They were not able to pay some 
great medicine man to make shields for them. 
As yet they went to war only as servants. 

About this time Red Robe fell in love. 
131 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

In the camp was a beautiful girl named 
Ma-min' — the Wing — whom all the young men 
wished to marry, but perhaps Red Robe loved 
her more than all the rest. Her father was a 
rich old medicine man who never invited any 
except chiefs and great warriors to feast with 
him, and Red Robe seldom entered his lodge. 
He used to dress as well as he could, to braid 
his hair carefully, to paint his face nicely, and to 
stand for a long time near the lodge looking 
entreatingly at her as she came and went about 
her work, or fleshed a robe under the shelter 
of some travois over which a hide was spread. 
Then whenever they met, he thought the look 
she gave him in passing was friendly — perhaps 
more than that. 

Wherever Ma-min' went her mother or some 
woman of the family went with her, so Red 
Robe could never speak to her, but he was 
often near by. One day, when she was gather- 
ing wood for the lodge, and her companion was 
out of sight behind some willow bushes some 
distance away. Red Robe had a chance to tell 
Ma-min' what was in his heart. He walked 

132 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

up to her and took her hands in his, and she 
did not try to draw them away. He said to 
her, ''I love you; I cannot remember a time 
when I saw you that my heart did not beat 
faster. I am poor, very poor, and it is useless 
to ask your father to let me marry you, for he 
will not consent; but there is another way, and 
if you love me, you will do what I ask. Let us 
go from here — far away. We will find some 
tribe that will be kind to us, and even if we fail 
in that we can live in some way. Now, if you 
love me, and I hope you do, you will come." 

"Ai," replied Ma-min', '*I do love you; only 
you. All the other young men pass before me 
as shadows. I scarcely see them, but I cannot 
do what you ask. I cannot go away and leave 
my mother to mourn; she who loves me so well. 
Let us wait a little. Go to war. Do something 
great and brave. Then perhaps you will not 
uselessly ask my father to give me to you." 

In vain Red Robe tried to persuade the girl 
to do as he wished. She was kind; she threw 
her arms about him and kissed him and cried, 
but she would not run away to leave her mother 

133 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

to sorrow, to be beaten by her father, who would 
blame the poor woman for all the disgrace; and 
so, too soon, they parted, for they heard her com- 
panion coming — the sound of her heavy foot- 
steps. 

Three Bulls, chief of the camp, was a great 
man. He had a fierce temper, and when he 
spoke, people hurried to do what he ordered, for 
they feared him. He never talked loud nor 
called any one by an ill name. When any one 
displeased him or refused to do what he said he 
just smiled and then killed the person. He was 
brave. In battle with enemies he was the equal 
of twenty men, rushing here, there, into the 
thickest of the fights, and killing — always with 
that silent, terrible smile on his face. Because 
he was such a great warrior, and also because 
he was generous, helping the poor, feasting any 
who came to his lodge, he was the head chief of 
the Blackfeet. 

Three Bulls had several wives and many chil- 
dren, some of them grown and married. Gray 
hairs were now many in his head. His face 
wrinkles showed that old age was not far distant. 

134 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

No one supposed that he would ever take an- 
other wife ; so when the news spread through the 
camp that he had asked the old medicine man 
for his daughter Ma-min', every one was sur- 
prised. When Red Robe heard the news his 
heart nearly broke. The old medicine man 
agreed to let the chief have the girl. He dared 
not refuse, nor did he wish to, for many good 
presents were to be given him in three days' 
time. When that was done, he told his daugh- 
ter, she would be taken to the chief's lodge; let 
her prepare for the change. 

That day Red Robe had planned to start 
with a party to war; but when he heard this 
news he asked his friend Talking Rock to take 
word to the leader that he had changed his mind 
and would not go. He asked his friend to stay 
with him, instead of joining the war party, and 
Talking Rock agreed to do so. 

Out in front of the camp was a large spring, 
and to that place Red Robe went and stood lean- 
ing against a large stone and looking sadly down 
into the blue water. Soon, as he had thought, 
Ma-min' came to the spring for a skin of water. 

135 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

He took her hands, as he had done before, and 
began to beg her to go away with him that very 
night, before it was too late. The girl cried bit- 
terly, but at first she did not speak. 

The two were standing in plain sight of the 
camp and the people in it, and some one went to 
the chief's lodge and told him what was taking 
place. 

''Go to the spring," said the chief, "and tell 
that young man to let the girl go; she is to be 
my wife." 

The person did as he was told, but the two 
young people paid no attention to him. They 
did not care what any one said, nor if the whole 
camp saw them there together. All they could 
think about was this terrible thing, which would 
make them unhappy so long as they lived. Red 
Robe kept asking the girl to go, and at last she 
consented to do as he wished. They had their 
arms about each other, not thinking of the crowd 
that was watching them, and were quickly plan- 
ning for their meeting and for their going away 
that night, when Three Bulls quietly walked up 
to them and stabbed the young man with a flint- 

136 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

pointed lance. Red Robe sank down dying at 
the young girl's feet, and she, looking down for 
an instant at her lover, turned and ran to her 
father's lodge. 

''Bring wood," the chief called out; ''let every 
one bring some wood; all you have at your 
lodges. Those who have none, let them go 
quickly and bring some from the timber." 

All the people hurried to obey. What Three 
Bulls ordered was soon done, for the people 
feared him, and soon a great pile of wood was 
heaped beside the dead man. 

The chief lifted the slender young form, placed 
it on the pile of wood, and told a woman to bring 
coals and set fire to the pile. When this had 
been done, all left the place except Three Bulls, 
who stayed there, tending the fire and poking it 
here and there, until it was burnt out and no 
wood or trace of a human body was left. Noth- 
ing remained except the little pile of ashes. 
These he scattered. Still he was not satisfied. 
His medicine was strong; perhaps his dream had 
warned him. Now he ordered that the lodges 
be taken down, that everything be packed up, 

137 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

and that the trail of the moving camp should 
pass over the heap of ashes. 

Some time before this, after Red Robe had 
made his long fasting, and his dream had 
come to him and he had returned to his grand- 
mother's lodge, he had told his true friend 
something of what had been said to him by 
his dream. 

"If I should die," he said, "and you are near, 
do not desert me. Go to the place where I fell, 
and if my body should have been destroyed look 
carefully around the place. If you can find even 
a shred of my flesh or a bit of my bone, it will 
be well. So said my dream. Here are four 
arrows, which the dream told me to make. If 
you can find a bit of my body, flesh or bone, or 
even hair, cover it with a robe, and standing 
over it, shoot three arrows one after another up 
into the air, crying, as each one leaves the bow, 
'Look out!' When you fit the fourth arrow on 
the bowstring and shoot it upward, cry, 'Look 
out. Red Robe, the arrow will strike you!' and 
as you say this, turn and run away from the 
place, not looking back as you go. If you do 

138 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

this, my friend, just as I have told you, I shall 
live again." 

As the camp moved, Three Bulls stood and 
watched it filing over the place of the fire, and 
saw the ashes scattered by the trailing ends of 
lodge poles and travois, and by the feet of hun- 
dreds of people and dogs. Still he was not sat- 
isfied, and for a long time after the last of the 
people had passed he remained there. Then he 
went on across the flat and up and over a ridge, 
but presently he returned, once, twice, four 
times, to the crest of the hill and looked back at 
the place where the camp had been; but at last 
he felt sure that no one remained at the place, 
and went on. 

Yet Talking Rock was there. He had been 
hidden in the brush all the time, watching the 
chief. Even after Three Bulls had passed over 
the ridge, he remained crouched in the bushes, 
and saw him come back again and again to peer 
over its crest. Still further on there was an- 
other higher ridge, and when the young man 
saw Three Bulls climb that and disappear on 
the trail of the camp, he came forth. 

139 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Going to the place where his friend had lain, 
Talking Rock sat down and mourned, wailing 
long and loud. Back on the hills the wolves 
and coyotes heard him and they too became 
sorrowful, adding their cries to his. 

The young man had little faith in the power 
of the four arrows that he kept so carefully 
wrapped in a separate bundle in his quiver. He 
looked at the place where Red Robe's body had 
been burnt. It was like any other place on the 
great trail that had been made, dust and grass 
blades mingled together, and scratches made by 
the dragging poles. It did not seem possible 
that anything of his friend's body remained; yet 
he must search, and breaking a green willow 
twig he began carefully to work over the dust, 
stopping his crying, for the tears blinded his 
eyes so that he could not see. 

All the long morning and far into the after- 
noon. Talking Rock swept the dust this way and 
that, turning it over and over, in a circle that 
grew always wider, and just as he was about to 
give up the search, he found a bit of charred and 
blackened bone. Was this a part of his friend's 

140 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

frame? Was it not more likely a bit of bone of 
buffalo or elk, which some dog had carried from 
one of the fireplaces of the camp and dropped 
here? 

Now for the test. Talking Rock covered the 
bit of bone with his robe as he had been told to 
do. He even raised the robe along its middle, 
making it look as if it really covered a person 
lying there. Then he shot three of the arrows 
up in the air, each time crying, "Look out." 

Then with a hand that trembled a little, he 
drew the fourth arrow from the quiver, shot it 
and cried, "Look out. Red Robe, the arrow will 
strike you"; and, turning, ran from the place 
with all his speed. 

How he wanted to look back ! How he longed 
to see if his friend was really rising from that bit 
of blackened bone! But Talking Rock was 
strong-hearted. He controlled his desires. On 
and on he ran, and then — behind him the light 
tread of running feet, a firm hand gripped his 
shoulder, and a loved voice said, "Why so fast, 
my friend?" and stopping and turning. Talking 
Rock found himself face to face with Red Robe. 

141 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

He could not believe what he saw, and had to 
pinch himself and to hold his friend hard in his 
arms to believe that all this was real. 

The camp had not moved far, and the lodges 
were pitched on the next stream to the south. 
Soon after dark, the two friends entered it and 
went to their lodge. The poor old grandmother 
could not believe her eyes when she saw the 
young man she had reared and loved so dearly; 
but when he spoke she knew that it was he, and 
running over to him she held him in her arms 
and kissed him, crying from joy. After a little 
time, the young man said to her, '' Grandmother, 
go to the chief's lodge and say to him that I, 
Red Robe, need some dried meat." The old 
woman hesitated at this strange request, but 
Red Robe said: ''Go, do not fear him; Three 
Bulls is now the one to know fear." 

When the old woman entered the great lodge 
and in reply to the chief's look said, ''Red Robe 
sent me here. He wants some dried meat," 
only Three Bulls of all who were in the lodge, 
showed no surprise. "It is what I expected," he 
said; "in spite of all my care he lives again, and 

142 



RED ROBE'S DREAM 

I can do nothing." Turning to his wives he 
said, "Give her meat." 

"Did you see Ma-mm'.?" asked Red Robe, 
when his grandmother had returned with the 
meat and had told him what the chief had said. 

"No, she was not in the lodge, but two women 
were approaching as I left it. I think they were 
the girl and her mother." 

"Go back once more," said the young man, 
"and tell Three Bulls to send me that young 
woman." 

But now the poor old grandmother was afraid. 
"I dare not tell him that," she exclaimed. "He 
would kill me, and you. His anger would be 
fearful." 

"Do not fear," said Red Robe, "do not fear, 
my mother, his anger and his power are no 
longer to be feared. He is as feeble and as help- 
less as one of those old bulls one sees on the 
sunny side of the coulee, spending his last days 
before the wolves pull him down." 

The old woman went to the lodge and told 
the chief what Red Robe further wished. Ma- 
min' was there, her head covered with her robe, 

143 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

crying quietly, and Three Bulls told her to arise 
and go with the messenger. Timidly at first, 
and then with steps that broke into a run, 
Ma-min' hurried toward the lodge of her sweet- 
heart and entered it. With a cry of joy she 
threw herself into his arms, and Talking Rock 
went out and left them alone. 

Great now was the happiness of these young 
people. Long was their life, full of plenty and 
of great honor. Red Robe became a chief, re- 
spected and loved by all the people. Ma-min' 
bore him many children, who grew up to be the 
support of their old age. 



144 



THE BLACKFEET CREATION 

THE Blackfeet believe that the Sun made 
the earth — that he is the creator. One 
of the names by which they call the Sun is Napi 
—Old Man. This is how they tell of the 
creation : 

In the beginning there was water everywhere; 
nothing else was to be seen. There was some- 
thing floating on the water, and on this raft 
were Old Man and all the animals. 

Old Man wished to make land, and he told 
the beaver to dive down to the bottom of the 
water and to try to bring up a little mud. The 
beaver dived and was under water for a long 
time, but he could not reach the bottom. Then 
the loon tried, and after him the otter, but the 
water was too deep for them. At last the musk- 
rat was sent down, and he was gone for a long 
time; so long that they thought he must be 
drowned, but at last he came up and floated 

145 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

almost dead on the water, and when they pulled 
him up on the raft and looked at his paws, they 
found a little mud in them. When Old Man 
had dried this mud, he scattered it over the 
water and land was formed. This is the story 
told by the Blackfeet. It is very much like one 
told by some Eastern Indians, who are related 
to the Blackfeet. 

After the land had been made, Old Man trav- 
elled about on it, making things and fixing up 
the earth so as to suit him. First, he marked 
out places where he wished the rivers to run, 
sometimes making them run smoothly, and 
again, in some places, putting falls on them. 
He made the mountains and the prairie, the 
timber and the small trees and bushes, and 
sometimes he carried along with him a lot of 
rocks, from which he built some of the moun- 
tains — as the Sweet Grass Hills — which stand 
out on the prairie by themselves. 

Old Man caused grass to grow on the plains, 
so that the animals might have something to 
feed on. He marked off certain pieces of land, 
where he caused different kinds of roots and ber- 

146 



t:ie blackfeet creation 

ries to grow- -a place for camas; and one for 
wild carrots; one for wild turnips, sweet root 
and bitter root; one for service berries, bull- 
berries, cherries, plums, and rosebuds. 

He made all kinds of animals that travel on 
the ground. When he made the big-horn with 
its great horns, he put it out on the prairie. It 
did not seem to travel easily there; it was awk- 
ward and could not go fast, so he took it by one 
of its horns and led it up into the rough hills and 
among the rocks, and let it go there, and it 
skipped about among the cliffs and easily went 
up fearful places. So Old Man said to the big- 
horn, "This is the place for you; this is what 
you are fitted for; the rough country and the 
mountains." While he was in the mountains 
he made the antelope, and turned it loose to see 
how it travelled. The antelope ran so fast that 
it fell over some rocks and hurt itself. He saw 
that this would not do, and took the antelope 
down on the prairie and set it free there, and it 
ran away fast and gracefully, and he said to it, 
"This is the place that suits you." 

At last, one day. Old Man decided that he 
147 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

would make a woman and a chile , and he mod- 
elled some clay in human shape, and after he had 
made these shapes and put them on the ground, 
he said to the clay, "You shall be people." He 
spread his robe over the clay figures and went 
away. The next morning he went back to the 
place and hfted up the robe, and saw that the 
clay shapes had changed a little. When he 
looked at them the next morning, they had 
changed still more; and when on the fourth day 
he went to the place and took off the covering, 
he said to the images, "Stand up and walk," 
and they did so. They walked down to the river 
with him who had made them, and he told them 
his name. 

As they were standing there looking at the 
water as it flowed by, the woman asked Old 
Man, saying, "How is it; shall we hve always.^ 
Will there be no end to us?" 

Old Man said, "I have not thought of that. 
We must decide it. I will take this buffalo chip 
and throw it in the river. If it floats, people will 
become alive again four days after they have 
died; they will die for four days only. But if 

148 



THE BLACKFEET CREATION 

it sinks, there will be an end to them." He 
threw the chip into the river, and it floated. 

The woman turned and picked up a stone and 
said, ''No, I will throw this stone in the river. 
If it floats, we shall live always ; if it sinks, peo- 
ple must die, so that their friends who are left 
alive may always remember them." The wom- 
an threw the stone in the water, and it sank. 

''Well," said Old Man, "you have chosen; 
there will be an end to them." 

Not many nights after that the woman's child 
died, and she cried a great deal for it. She said 
to Old Man, "Let us change this. The law that 
you first made, let that be the law." 

He said, "Not so; what is made law must be 
law. We will undo nothing that we have done. 
The child is dead, but it cannot be changed. 
People will have to die." 

These first people did not have hands like a 
person; they had hands like a bear with long 
claws. They were poor and naked and did not 
know how to get a living. Old Man showed 
them the roots and the berries, and showed them 
how to gather these, and told them how at 

149 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

certain times of the year they should peel the 
bark off some trees and eat it; that the little 
animals that live in the ground — rats, squirrels, 
skunks, and beavers — were good to eat. He also 
taught them something about the roots that 
were good for medicine to cure sickness. 

In those days there were buffalo, and these 
black animals were armed, for they had long 
horns. Once, as the people were moving about, 
the buffalo saw them and rushed upon them 
and hooked them and killed them, and then ate 
them. One day, as the creator was travelling 
about, he came upon some of his children that 
he had made lying there dead, torn to pieces and 
partly eaten by the buffalo. When he saw this, 
he felt badly. He said, "I have not made these 
people right. I will change this; from now on 
the people shall eat the buffalo." 

He went to some of the people who were still 
ahve, and said to them, "How is it that you peo- 
ple do nothing to these animals that are kilhng 
you?" The people replied, "What can we do.^ 
These animals are armed and can kill us, and 
we have no way to kill them." 

150 



THE BLACKFEET CREATION 

The creator said, "That is not hard. I will 
make you something that will kill these animals." 

He went out and cut some straight service- 
berry shoots, and brought them in, and peeled 
the bark from them. He took a larger piece of 
wood and flattened it, and tied a string to it, 
and made a bow. Now he was the master of all 
birds and he went out and caught one, and took 
feathers from its wings and tied them to the 
shaft of wood. He tied four feathers along the 
shaft and tried the arrow at a mark and found 
that it did not fly well. He took off these feath- 
ers and put on three, and when he again tried 
it at the mark he found that it went straight. 
He picked up some hard stones, and broke 
sharp pieces from them. When he tried them 
he found that the black flint stones made the 
best arrow points. He showed them how to use 
these things. 

Then he spoke to the people, and said, "The 
next time you go out, take these things with 
you, and use them as I tell you. Do not run 
from these animals. When they rush at you, 
and have come pretty close, shoot the arrows at 

151 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

them as I have taught you, and you will see 
that they will run from you or will run around 
you in a circle." 

He also broke off pieces of stone, and fixed 
them in a handle, and told them that when they 
killed the buffalo they should cut up the flesh 
with these stone knives. 

One day after this, some people went on a 
little hill to look about, and the buffalo saw 
them and called out to each other, "Ah, there is 
some more of our food," and rushed upon 
them. The people did not run. They began 
to shoot at the buffalo with the bows and arrows 
that had been given them, and the buffalo began 
to fall. They say that when the first buffalo 
hit with an arrow felt it prick him, he called out 
to his fellows, ''Oh, my friends, a great fly is 
biting me." 

With the flint knives that had been given 
them they cut up the bodies of the dead buffalo. 
About this time Old Man came up and said to 
them, "It is not healthful to eat raw flesh. I will 
show you something better than that." He 
gathered soft, dry rotten wood and made punk 

152 



THE BLACKFEET CREATION 

of it, and took a piece of wood and drilled a hole 
in it with an arrow point, and gave them a 
pointed piece of hard wood, and showed them 
how to make a fire with fire sticks, and to cook 
the flesh of animals. 

After this the people found a certain sort of 
stone in the land, and took another harder stone, 
and worked one upon the other and hollowed 
out the softer one, so as to make of it a kettle. 

It is told also that the creator made people 
and animals at another place, and in another 
way. At the Porcupine Mountains he made 
other earthen images of people, and blew breath 
on the images, and they became people. They 
were men and women. After a time they asked 
him, ''What are we to eat.^" Then he took 
more earth and made many images in the form 
of buffalo, and when he had blown on them they 
stood up, and he made signs to them and they 
started to run. He said to the people, "There 
is your food." 

''Well, now," they replied; "we have those 
animals, how are we to kill them.^^" 

"I will show you," he said. 
153 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

He took them to the edge of a ehff and showed 
them how to heap up piles of stone, running back 
from the cHff like this -'-.,, ' 

with the point of the V toward the cliff. He said 
to the people, *'Now, do you hide behind these 
piles of stones, and when I lead the buffalo this 
way, as they get opposite to you, stand up." 

Then he went on toward a herd of buffalo and 
began to call them, and the buffalo started to- 
ward him and followed him, until they were inside 
the arms of the V. Then he ran to one side 
and hid, and as the people rose up the buffalo 
ran on in a straight line and jumped over the 
cliff and some of them were killed by the fall. 

"There," he said, ''go and take the flesh of 
those animals." Then the people tried to do so. 
They tried to tear the limbs apart, but they 
could not. They tried to bite pieces out of the 
bodies, but they could not do that. Old Man 
went to the edge of the cliff and broke some 
pieces of stone with sharp edges, and showed 
them how to cut the flesh with these. Of the 
buffalo that went over the cliff, some were not 
dead, but were hurt, so they could not run 

154 



THE BLACKFEET CREATION 

away. The people cut strips of green hide and 
tied stones in the middle, and with these ham- 
mers broke in the skulls of the buffalo and 
killed them. 

When they had taken the skins from these 
animals, they set up poles and put the hides 
over them, and so made a shelter to sleep under. 

In later times the creator marked off a piece 
of land for the five tribes, Blackfeet, Bloods, 
Piegans, Gros Ventres, and Sarsis, and said to 
these tribes, ''When people come to cross this 
line at the border of your land, take your bows 
and arrows, your lances and your war clubs and 
give them battle, and keep them out. If they 
gain a footing here, trouble for you will follow." 



155 



OLD MAN STORIES 

UNDER the name Na'pi, Old Man, have 
been confused two wholly different per- 
sons talked of by the Blackfeet. The Sun, the 
creator of the universe, giver of light, heat, 
and life, and reverenced by every one, is often 
called Old Man, but there is another personality 
who bears the same name, but who is very dif- 
ferent in his character. This last Na'pi is a 
mixture of wisdom and foolishness; he is mali- 
cious, selfish, childish, and weak. He delights 
in tormenting people. Yet the mean things he 
does are so foolish that he is constantly getting 
himself into scrapes, and is often obliged to ask 
the animals to help him out of his troubles. 
His bad deeds almost always bring their own 
punishment. 

Interpreters commonly translate this word 
Na'pi as Old Man, but it is also the term for 
white man; and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe 

156 



OLD MAN STORIES 

tribes tell just such stories about a similar per- 
son whom they also call "white man." Tribes 
of Dakota stock tell of a similar person whom 
they call "the spider." 

The stories about this Old Man are told by 
the Blackf eet for entertainment rather than with 
any serious purpose, and when that part of the 
story is reached where Old Man is in some diffi- 
culty which he cannot get out of, the man who 
is telling the story, and those who are listening 
to it, laugh delightedly. 

Some stories of this kind are these: 

THE WONDERFUL BIRD 

One day, as Old Man was walking about 
among the trees, he saw something that seemed 
very queer. 

A little bird was sitting on the branch of a 
tree. Every little while it would make a strange 
noise, and every time it made this noise its eyes 
flew out of its head and fastened on a branch of 
the tree. Then after a little while the bird 
would make another sort of noise and its eyes 
would go back to their places in its head. 

157 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Old Man called out to the bird, "Little 
brother, teach me how to do that." 

"If I show you how," the bird answered, 
"you must not send your eyes out of your head 
more than four times in a day. If you do, you 
will be sorry." 

"It shall be as you say, little brother. It is 
for you to give, and I will hsten to what you 
say." 

When the bird had taught Old Man how to do 
this, he was glad. He began to do it, and did 
it four times right away. Then he said, "Why 
did that bird tell me to do this only four times .^ 
He has no sense. I will do it again." So once 
more he made his eyes go out, but now when he 
called to them they would not come back. 

He shouted out to the bird, "Little brother, 
come here, and help me to get back my eyes." 
The little bird did not answer him; it had flown 
away. Now Old Man felt all over the branches 
of the tree with his hands, but he could not find 
his eyes. So he went away and wandered over 
the prairie for a long time, crying and calhng 
to the animals to help him. 

158 



OLD MAN STORIES 

As he was blind, he could find nothing to eat, 
and he began to be very hungry. 

A wolf teased him a great deal and had much 
fun. It had found a dead buffalo, and taking a 
piece of the meat, it would hold the meat close to 
Old Man's face. Then Old Man would say, ''I 
smell something dead, I wish I could find it; 
I am almost starved." He felt all around for it. 

Once when the wolf was doing this. Old Man 
caught him, and plucking out one of the wolf's 
eyes, he put it in his own head. Then he could 
see, and was able to find his own eyes, but never 
again could he do the trick the little bird had 
taught him. 

THE rabbits' medicine 

Once, when Old Man was travelling about, he 
heard some singing that sounded very queer. 
He had never before heard anything like it, and 
looked all about to see where it came from. 
After a time he saw that the cottontail rabbits 
were singing and making medicine. They had 
built a fire, and raked out some hot ashes, and 
they would lie down in these ashes and sing, 

159 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

while one of the others covered them up. They 
could stay there only for a short time, though, 
for the ashes were hot. 

''Little brothers," said Old Man, ''here is 
something wonderful — that you can lie in those 
hot ashes and coals without burning. I ask you 
to teach me how to do this." 

"We will show you how to do it, Old Man," 
said the rabbits. "You must sing our song, 
and stay in the ashes only a short time." They 
taught Old Man their song, and he began to 
sing and lay down, and they covered him with 
coals and ashes, and the hot ashes did not burn 
him. 

"That is good," he said. "You have strong 
medicine. Now, so that I may know it all, do 
you lie down and let me cover you up." 

All the rabbits lay down in the ashes, and Old 
Man covered them up, and then he pulled the 
whole fire over them. One old rabbit got out, 
and Old Man was just about to put her back 
when she said, "Pity me; my children need me." 

"It is good," replied Old Man. "You may 
go, so that there will be more rabbits; but these 

160 



OLD MAN STORIES 

I will roast, and have a feast." He put more 
wood on the fire, and when the rabbits were 
cooked he got some red willow brush and put 
the rabbits on it to cool. The grease from their 
bodies soaked into the branches, so that even 
to-day if red willow is held over a fire one may 
see the grease on the bark. Ever since that 
time, too, the rabbits have a burnt place on the 
back, where the one that got away was singed. 

Old Man sat down by the fire, waiting for the 
rabbits to get cool, when a coyote came along, 
limping. He went on three legs. "Pity me. 
Old Man," he said. '*You have plenty of 
cooked rabbits, give me one of them." 

''Go away," said Old Man, very cross; ''if 
you are too lazy to catch food, I will not give 
you any." 

"But my leg is broken," said the coyote; "I 
cannot run. I cannot catch anything, and I am 
starving. Give me half a rabbit." 

"I don't care what happens to you," said Old 
Man; "I worked hard to catch and cook these 
rabbits, and I shall not give any of them away. 
I'll tell you what I will do, though; I will run a 

161 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

race with you out to that far butte on the 
prairie, and if you beat me you can have a 
rabbit." 

"Good," said the coyote, and they started. 

Old Man ran very fast, and the coyote Hmped 
along behind him, but pretty close, until they 
got near the butte. Then the coyote turned 
around and ran back very fast, for he was not 
lame at all. It took Old Man a long time to get 
back, and just before he reached the fire, the 
coyote finished eating the last rabbit and ran 
away. 

THE LOST ELK MEAT 

Old Man had been a long time without food 
and was very hungry. He was trying to think 
how he could get something to eat, when he saw 
a band of elk come up on a ridge. He went 
over to them and spoke to them and said, 
*' Brothers, I am lonely because I have no one 
to follow me." 

"Go ahead, Old Man," said the elk; "we will 
follow you." Old Man led them about for a 
long time, and when it was dark he came near a 

162 



OLD MAN STORIES 

high, steep cut bank. He ran around to one 
side, where the hill sloped, and then went back 
right under the steep cliff and called out, "Come 
on, that is a nice jump. You will laugh." So 
all the elk jumped off and were killed, except 
one cow. 

"They have all jumped but you," said Old 
Man. "Come on, you will like it." 

" Take pity on me," said the cow. "I am very 
heavy, and I am afraid to jump." 

"Go away, then," said Old Man; "go and live. 
Then some day there will be plenty of elk again." 

Old Man built a fire and cooked some of the 
meat, and then he skinned all the elk, and cut 
up the meat and hung it up to dry. The tongues 
he hung on a pole. 

The next day he started off and was gone all 
day, and at night, as he was coming home, he 
was very hungry. He was thinking to himself 
that he would have some roasted ribs and a 
tongue and other good things; but when he 
reached the place, the meat was all gone; the 
wolves had eaten it. 

"It was lucky I hung up those tongues," said 
163 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Old Man, "or I should not have had anything to 
eat." But when he took down the tongues they 
were all hollow. The mice had eaten out the 
meat, leaving only the skins. 

THE ROLLING ROCK 

Once when Old Man was travelling about and 
felt tired, he sat down on a rock to rest. After 
he was rested he started on his way, and be- 
cause the sun was hot he threw his robe over 
the rock and said to it, "Here, I give you my 
robe because you are poor and have let me rest 
on you. Keep it always." 

He had not gone far when it began to rain, 
and meeting a coyote, he said to him, "Little 
brother, run back to that rock and ask him to 
lend me his robe. We will cover ourselves with 
it and keep dry." 

The coyote ran back to the rock, but presently 
returned without the robe. 

"Where is the robe.^" asked Old Man. 

"Why," said the coyote, "the rock said that 
you had given him the robe and he was going 
to keep it." 

164 



OLD MAN STORIES 

This made Old Man angry, and he went back 
to the rock and snatched the robe off it, saying, 
''I was only going to borrow this robe until the 
rain was over, but now that you have acted so 
mean about it, I will keep it. You don't need a 
robe, anyhow. You have been out in the rain 
and snow all your life, and it will not hurt you 
to live so always." 

When he had said this he put the robe about 
his shoulders, and with the coyote he went off 
into a ravine and they sat down there. The 
rain was falling and they covered themselves 
with the robe, and were warm and dry. 

Pretty soon they heard a loud, rumbling noise, 
and Old Man said to the coyote, "Little brother, 
go up on the hill and see what that noise is." 

The coyote went off, but presently he came 
back, running as hard as he could, saying, "Run, 
run, the big rock is coming." They both 
started, and ran away as fast as they could. 
The coyote tried to creep into a badger-hole, 
but it was too small for him and he stuck fast, 
and before he could get out the rock rolled over 
him and crushed his hips. Old Man was fright- 

165 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

ened, and as he ran he threw away his robe and 
everything that he had on, so that he might run 
faster. The rock was gaining on him all the 
time. 

Not far away on the prairie a band of buffalo 
bulls were feeding, and Old Man cried out to 
them, saying, "Oh, my brothers, help me, help 
me; stop that rock." The bulls ran and tried 
to stop it, butting against it, but it crushed 
their heads. Some deer and antelope tried to 
help Old Man, but they too were killed. Other 
animals came to help him, but could not stop 
the rock; it was now close to Old Man, so close 
that it began to hit his heels. He was just 
going to give up when he saw circling over his 
head a flock of night-hawks. 

"Oh, my little brothers," he cried, "help me; 
I am almost dead." The bull bats flew down 
one after another against the rock, and every 
time one of them hit it he chipped off a piece, 
and at last one hit it fair in the middle and 
broke it into two pieces. 

Then Old Man was glad. He went to where 
there was a nest of night-hawks and pulled their 

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OLD MAN STORIES 

mouths out wide and pinched off their bills, to 
make them pretty and queer looking. That is 
the reason they look so to-day. 

BEAR AND BULLBERRIES 

Scattered over the prairie in northern Mon- 
tana, close to the mountains, are many great 
rocks — boulders which thousands of years ago, 
when the great ice-sheet covered northern North 
America, were carried from the mountains out 
over the prairie by the ice and left there when 
it melted. 

Around most of these great boulders the 
buffalo used to walk from time to time, rub- 
bing against the rough surface of the rock to 
scratch themselves, as a cow rubs itself against 
a post or as a horse rolls on the ground — for 
the pleasant feeling that the rubbing of the 
skin gives it. 

As the buffalo walked around these boulders 
their hoofs loosened the soil, and this loosened 
soil — the dust — was blown away by the constant 
winds of summer. So, around most of these 
boulders, much of the soil is gone, leaving a deep 

167 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

trench, at the bottom of which are stones and 
gravel, too large to be moved by the wind. 

This story explains how these rocks came to 
be like that: 

Once Old Man was crossing a river and the 
stream was deep, so that he was carried away by 
the current, and lost his bow and arrows and 
other weapons. When he got to the shore he 
began to look about for something to use in 
making a bow and arrows, for he was hungry 
and wanted to kill some food. 

He took the first wood he could find and made 
a bow and arrows and a handle for his knife. 
When he had finished these things he started 
on his way. 

Presently, as he looked over a hill he saw 
down below him a bear digging roots. Old Man 
thought he would have some fun with the bear, 
and he called out aloud, ''He has no tail." Then 
he dodged back out of sight. The bear looked 
all about, but saw no one, and again began to 
dig roots. Then Old Man again peeped over 
the hill and saw the bear at work, and again 
called out, "He has no tail." This time the 

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OLD MAN STORIES 

bear looked up more quickly, but Old Man 
dodged down, and the bear did not see him, and 
pretty soon went on with his digging. 

Four times Old Man did this, calling the bear 
names, but the fourth time the bear was on the 
watch and saw Old Man, and started after him. 

Old Man ran away as hard as he could, but 
the bear followed fast. Presently, Old Man 
tried to shoot the bear with his arrows, but they 
were made of bad wood and would not fly well, 
and if they hit the bear, they just broke off. 
All his weapons failed him, and now the bear was 
close to him. Just in front was a great rock, 
and when Old Man came to that, he dodged 
behind it and ran around to the other side, 
and the bear followed him. They kept running 
around the rock for a long time and wore a deep 
trail about it, and because Old Man could turn 
more quickly, he kept just ahead of the bear. 
Old Man kept calling to the animals to help 
him, but no one came. 

He was almost out of breath, and the bear was 
close to him, when Old Man saw lying on the 
ground a bull's horn. He picked it up and held 

169 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

it on his head and turned around and bellowed 
loudly, and the bear was frightened and turned 
around and ran away as hard as he could. Then 
Old Man leaned up against the rock, and 
breathed hard for a long time, but at last he 
got his wind back. He said to the rock, "This 
is the way you rocks shall always be after this, 
with a big hole all around you." 

By this time he was pretty tired and thirsty, 
and he thought he would go down to the river 
and drink. When he got to the edge of the 
water he got down on his knees to drink, and 
there before him in the water he saw bull- 
berries, great bunches of them. He said to him- 
self, "I will dive in and get those bull-berries"; 
and he took ofiF his moccasins and clothing and 
dived in, but he could not find the bullberries, 
and presently he came up. He looked into the 
water again, and again saw the bullberries. He 
said to himself, '* Those bullberries must be very 
deep down." 

He went along the shore looking for a heavy 
stone that would take him down into the deep 
water where the bullberries were, and when he 

170 



OLD MAN STORIES 

found one he tied the stone to his neck and 
again dived in. This time he sank to the bot- 
tom, for the stone carried him down. He felt 
about with his hands trying to reach the bull- 
berries, but could feel nothing and began to 
drown. He tried to get free from the stone, 
but that was hard to do; yet at last he broke 
the string and came to the top of the water. 
He was almost dead, and it took him a long 
time to get to the shore, and when he got there 
he crawled up on to the bank and lay down to 
rest and get his breath. As he lay there on his 
back, he saw above him the thick growing bull- 
berries whose reflections he had seen in the 
water. He said to himself, "And I was almost 
drowned for these." Then he took a stick and 
with it began to beat the bullberry bushes. He 
said to the bushes, ''After this, the people shall 
beat you in this way when they want to gather 
berries." 

The Blackfeet women, when gathering bull- 
berries, spread robes under the bushes and beat 
the branches with sticks, knocking off the berries, 
which fall on the robes. 

171 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 
THE THEFT FROM THE SUN 

One time when Old Man was on a journey, he 
came to the Sun's lodge, and went in and sat 
down, and the Sun asked him to stay with him 
for a time. Old Man was glad to do so. One 
day the meat was all gone, and the Sun said, 
''Well, Old Man, what do you say if we go out 
and kill some deer.^ " 

''I like what you say," said Old Man. "Deer 
meat is good." 

The Sun took down a bag that was hanging 
from a lodge pole and took from it a handsome 
pair of leggings, embroidered with porcupine 
quills and pretty feathers. 

''These are my hunting leggings," said the 
Sun; "they have great power. When I want to 
kill deer, all I have to do is to put them on and 
walk around a patch of brush, and the leggings 
set it on fire and drive out the deer, so that I 
can shoot them." 

"Well, well," exclaimed Old Man, "how won- 
derful that is!"* He began to think, " I wish I 
had such a pair of leggings as that"; and after he 

172 



OLD MAN STORIES 

had thought about it some more, he made up 
his mind that he would have those leggings, if 
he had to steal them. 

They went out to hunt, and when they came 
to a patch of brush, the Sun set it on fire with 
his hunting leggings. A number of deer ran 
out, and each shot one. 

That night when they were going to bed the 
Sun pulled oflF his leggings, and laid them aside. 
Old Man saw where he had put them, and in 
the middle of the night, after every one was 
asleep, he took the leggings and went away. 
He travelled a long time, until he had gone far 
and was tired; then making a pillow of the leg- 
gings he lay down and slept. After a while he 
heard some one speaking and woke up and saw 
that it was day. Some one was talking to him. 
The Sun was saying, ''Old Man, why are my 
leggings under your head?" 

Old Man looked about him and saw that he 
was in the Sun's lodge. He thought he must 
have wandered around and got lost and re- 
turned there. Again the Sun spoke, and asked, 
"What are you doing with my leggings.^" 

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BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

"Oh," replied Old Man, "I could not find 
anything for a pillow, so I put these leggings 
under my head." 

When night came and all had gone to bed, 
again Old Man stole the leggings and ran off. 
This time he did not walk at all. He kept run- 
ning until it was almost morning, and then lay 
down and slept. When morning came he found 
himself still in the Sun's lodge. 

You see what a fool he was; he did not know 
that the whole world is the Sun's lodge. He did 
not know that, no matter how far he ran, he 
could not get out of the Sun's sight. 

This time the Sun said, "Old Man, since you 
like my leggings so much, I give them to you. 
Keep them." Then Old Man was glad and he 
went away. 

One day his food was all gone, and he put on 
the hunting leggings and w^ent out and set fire to 
a piece of brush. He was just going to kill some 
deer that were running out, when he saw that 
the fire was getting close to him. He ran away 
as fast as he could, but the fire gained on him 
and began to burn his legs. His leggings were 

174 



OLD MAN STORIES 

all on fire. He came to a river and jumped in 
and pulled off the leggings as soon as he could. 
They were burnt to pieces. 

Perhaps the Sun did this because Old Man 
tried to steal his leggings. 

THE SMART WOMAN CHIEF 

Long ago, they tell me, men and women did 
not know each other. Women were put in one 
place and men in another. They were not to- 
gether; they were apart. 

He who made us made women first. He did 
not make them very well. That is why they 
are not so strong as men. The men he made 
better; so that they were strong. 

The w^omen were the smartest. They knew 
the most. They were the first to make piskuns, 
and to know how to tan hides and to make 
moccasins. At that time men wore moccasins 
made from the shank of the buffalo's leg, and 
robes made of wolfskin. This was all their 
clothing. 

One day when Old Man was travelling about, 
he came to a camp of men, and stayed there 

175 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

with them for a long time. It was after this 
that he discovered there were such beings as 
women. 

One time, as he was travelhng along, he saw 
two women driving some buffalo over a chff. 
When Old Man got near them, the women were 
very much frightened. They did not know 
what kind of animal it was that was coming. 
Too much scared to run away, they lay down to 
hide. When Old Man came up to them he 
thought they were dead, and said, "Here are 
two women who are dead. It is not good for 
them to lie out here on the prairie. I must take 
them to a certain place." He looked them all 
over to see what had killed them, but could find 
no wound. He picked up one of the women 
and carried her along with him in his arms. 
She was wondering how she could get away. 
She let her arms swing loose as if she were dead, 
and at every step Old Man took the arm swung 
and hit him in the nose, and pretty soon his 
nose began to bleed and to hurt, and at length 
he put the woman down on the ground and went 
back to get the other woman; but while he was 

176 



OLD MAN STORIES 

gone she had run away, and when he came back 
to get the first one she was gone too; so he lost 
them both. This made him angry, and he said 
to himself, ''If these two women will lie there 
again, I will get both of them." 

In this way women found out that there were 
men. 

One day Old Man stood on a hill and looked 
over toward the piskun at Woman's Falls, where 
the women had driven a band of buffalo over 
the cliff, and afterward were cutting up the 
meat. The chief of the women called him down 
to the camp, and sent word by him to the men, 
asking if they wanted to get wives. Old Man 
brought back word that they did, and the chief 
woman sent a message, calling all the men to a 
feast in her lodge to be married. The woman 
asked Old Man, "How many chiefs are there in 
that tribe?" He answered, "There are four 
chiefs. But the real chief of all that tribe you 
will know when you see him by this — he is finely 
dressed and wears a robe trimmed, and painted 
red, and carries a lance with a bone head on 
each end." Old Man wanted to marry the chief 

177 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

of the women, and intended to dress in this way, 
and that is why he told her that. 

Old Man had no moccasins; his were all worn 
out. The women gave him some for himself, 
and also some to take back to give to the men, 
and he went back to the men's camp. When he 
reached it, word went out that he had returned, 
and all the men said to each other, ''He has got 
back; Old Man has come again." He gave the 
men the message that the woman had sent, and 
soon the men started for the woman's camp to 
get married. When they came near it, they 
went up on a bluff and stood there, looking down 
on the camp. Old Man had dressed himself 
finely, and had put on a trimmed robe painted 
red, and in his hand held a lance with a bone 
head on each end. 

When the women saw that the men had come 
they got ready to go and select their husbands. 
The chief of the women said, ''I am the chief. 
I will go first and take the man I like. The rest 
wait here." 

The woman chief started up the hill to choose 
the chief of the men for her husband. She had 

178 



OLD MAN STORIES 

been making dried meat, and her hands, arms, 
and clothing were covered with blood and grease. 
She was dirty, and Old Man did not know her. 
The woman went up to Old Man to choose him, 
but he turned his back on her and would not go 
with her. 

She went back to her camp and told the 
women that she had been refused because her 
clothes were dirty. She said, ''Now, I am going 
to put on my nice clothes and choose a man. 
All of you can go up and take men, but let no 
one take that man with the red robe and the 
double-headed lance." 

After she was nicely dressed the chief woman 
again went up on the hill. Now, Old Man 
knew who she was, and he kept getting in front 
of her and trying hard to have her take him, 
but she would not notice him and took another 
man, the one standing next to Old Man. Then 
the other women began to come, and they kept 
coming up and choosing men, but no one took 
Old Man, and at last all the men were taken 
and he was left standing there alone. 

This made him so angry that he wanted to do 
179 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

something, and he went down to the woman's 
piskun and began to break down its walls, so the 
chief of the women turned him into a pine-tree. 

BOBCAT AND BIRCH TREE 

Once Old Man was travelling over the prairie, 
when he saw far off a fire burning, and as he 
drew near it he saw many prairie-dogs sitting in 
a circle around the fire. There were so many of 
them that there was no place for any one to sit 
down. Old Man stood there behind the circle, 
and presently he began to cry, and then he said 
to the prairie-dogs, "Let me, too, sit by that 
fire." The prairie-dogs said, "All right. Old 
Man, don't cry; come and sit by the fire." 
They moved aside so as to make a place for 
him, and Old Man sat down and looked on at 
what they were doing. 

He saw that they were playing a game, and 
this was the way they did it: they put one 
prairie-dog in the fire and covered him up with 
hot ashes, and then, after he had been there a 
Httle while, he would say, '' sk, sk'' and they 
pushed the ashes off him and pulled him out. 

180 



OLD MAN STORIES 

Old Man said, ''Little brothers, teach me how 
to do that." The prairie-dogs told him what 
to do, and put him in the fire and covered him 
up with the ashes, and after a little time he said, 
''sk, sic,'' like a prairie-dog, and they pulled him 
out again. Then he did it to the prairie-dogs. 

At first he put them in one at a time, but 
there were many of them, and soon he got tired 
and said, "I will put you all in at once." They 
said, ''Very well, Old Man," and all got in the 
ashes, but just as Old Man was about to cover 
them up one of them, a female, said, "Do not 
cover me up, for I fear the heat will hurt me." 
Old Man said, "Very well; if you do not wish to 
be covered up, you may sit over by the fire and 
watch the rest." Then he covered over all the 
others. 

At length the prairie-dogs said, "^fc, ^fc," but 
Old Man did not sweep off the ashes and pull 
them out of the fire. He let them stay there 
and die. The she one that was looking on ran 
to a hole, and as she went down in it, said, "^A:, 
skJ' Old Man chased her, but he got to the hole 
too late to catch her. 

181 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

*'0h, well, you can go," he said; "there will 
be more prairie-dogs by and by." 

When the prairie-dogs were roasted. Old Man 
cut some red willow twigs to place them on, and 
then sat down and began to eat. He ate until 
he was full, and then felt sleepy. 

He said to his nose, "I am going to sleep now; 
watch out, and in case any bad thing comes 
about, wake me up." Then Old Man slept. 

Pretty soon his nose snored, and Old Man 
woke up and said, "What is it.^" The nose 
said, "A raven is flying by, over there." Old 
Man said, "That is nothing," and went to sleep 
again. 

Soon his nose snored again, and Old Man said, 
"What is it now?" The nose said, "There is a 
coyote over there, coming this way." Old Man 
said, "A coyote is nothing," and again went to 
sleep. 

Presently his nose snored again, but Old Man 
did not wake up. Again it snored, and called 
out, "Wake up, a bobcat is coming." Old 
Man paid no attention; he slept on. 

The bobcat crept up to the fire and ate all 
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OLD MAN STORIES 

the roasted prairie-dogs, and then went off and 
lay down on the flat rock and went to sleep. 
All this time the nose kept trying to awaken Old 
Man, and at last he awoke, and the nose said, 
**A bobcat is over there on that flat rock. He 
has eaten all your food." Then Old Man was 
so angry that he called out loud. 

The tracks of the bobcat were all greasy 
from the food it had been eating, and Old Man 
followed these tracks. He went softly over to 
where the bobcat was sleeping, and seized it 
before it could wake up to bite or scratch him. 
The bobcat cried out, "Wait, let me speak a 
word or two," but Old Man would not listen. 

''I will teach you to steal my food," he said. 
He pulled off the lynx's tail, pounded his head 
against the rock so as to make his face flat, 
pulled him out long so as to make him small- 
bellied, and then threw him into the brush. As 
he went sneaking away. Old Man said, "There, 
that is the way you bobcats shall always be." 
It is for this reason that the lynxes to-day look 
Hke that. 

Old Man went to the fire, and looked at the 
183 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

red willow sticks where the roasted prairie-dogs 
had been, and when he saw them, and thought 
how his food was all gone, it made him angry 
at his nose. He said, "You fool, why did you 
not wake me?" He took the willow sticks and 
thrust them in the coals, and when they had 
caught fire he burnt his nose. This hurt, and 
he ran up on a hill and held his nose to the wind, 
and called to the wind to blow hard and cool 
him. A hard wind came, so hard that it blew 
him oflf the hill and away down to Birch Creek. 
As he was flying along he caught at the weeds 
and brush to stop himself, but nothing was 
strong enough to hold him. At last he grasped 
a birch tree. He held fast, and it did not give 
way. Although the wind whipped him about, 
this way and that, and tumbled him up and 
down, the tree held him. He kept calling to the 
wind to blow more softly, and at last it listened 
to him and went down. 

Then he said, "This is a beautiful tree. It 
has saved me from being blown away and 
knocked all to pieces. I will make it pretty, and 
it shall always be like that." So he gashed the 

184 



OLD MAN STORIES 

bark across with his stone knife, as you see the 
marks to-day. 

THE RED-EYED DUCK 

Once, long ago, Old Man was travelling north 
along a river. He carried a great pack on his 
back. After a time he came to a place where 
the river spread out and the water was quiet, 
and here many ducks were swimming about. 
Old Man did not look at the ducks, and kept 
travelling along; but presently some of the ducks 
saw him and looked at him and said to each 
other, "Who is that going along there with a 
pack on his back.'^ " One duck said to the others, 
"That must be Old Man." 

The duck that knew him called out, saying, 
"Hi, Old Man, where are you going .^" 

"I am going on farther," replied Old Man, 
"I have been sent for." 

"What have you got in your pack.^" said the 
duck. 

"Those are my songs," answered Old Man. 
"Some people have asked me to come and sing 
for them." 

185 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

"Stop for a while and sing for us," said the 
duck, "and we can have a dance." 

"No," said Old Man, "I am in a hurry; I 
cannot stop now." 

The duck kept persuading him to stop, and 
when it had asked him the fourth time, Old Man 
stopped and said to the ducks, "Well, I will stop 
for a little while and sing for you, and you can 
dance." 

So the ducks all came out on the bank and 
stood in a circle, and Old Man began to sing. 
He sang one song, and then said, "Now, this 
next song is a medicine song, and while you 
dance you must keep your eyes shut. No one 
must look. If any one opens his eyes and looks, 
his eyes will turn red." 

The ducks closed their eyes and Old Man 
began to sing, and they danced around; but Old 
Man took a stick, and every time one of them 
passed him, he knocked it on the head and threw 
it into the circle. 

Presently one of the littlest ducks while 
dancing could not feel any one on either side of 
him, and he opened his eyes and looked, and 

186 



OLD MAN STORIES 

saw what Old Man was doing. He cried out to 
the rest, *'Run, run, Old Man is killing us"; 
and all the other ducks flew away, but ever since 
that time that little duck's eyes have been red. 
It is the horned grebe. 

Old Man took the ducks and went off a little 
way and built a fire and hung some of the ducks 
up in front of it to roast, and after the fire was 
burning well, he swept away the ashes and buried 
some of the ducks in the ground and again swept 
back the fire over them. Then he lay down to 
wait for the birds to cook, and while they were 
cooking he fell asleep. 

While he slept a coyote came sneaking along 
and saw Old Man sleeping there, and the ducks 
roasting by the fire. Very quietly he crept up 
to the fire and took the ducks one by one and 
ate them. Not one was left. Pretty soon he 
found those that were roasting under the fire, 
and dug them out, and opening them, ate the 
meat from the inside of the skin and filled each 
one with ashes and buried them all again. Then 
he went away. 

Pretty soon Old Man woke up and saw that 
187 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

his ducks were gone, and when he saw the tracks 
about the fire, he knew that the coyote had 
taken them. 

"It was lucky," said Old Man, "that I put 
some of those to roast under the fire." He dug 
them up from under the ashes, but when he took 
a big bite from one, his mouth and face were full 
of ashes. 



188 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

10NG, long ago, before our fathers or grand- 
-' fathers were born, before the white peo- 
ple knew anything about the western half of 
North America, the Indians who told these 
stories lived on the Western plains. To the west 
of their home rose high mountains, black with 
pine-trees on their lower slopes and capped with 
snow, but their tents were pitched on the roll- 
ing prairie. For a little while in spring this 
prairie was green and dotted with flowers, but 
for most of the year it stretched away brown 
and bare, north, east, and south, farther than one 
could see. 

On these plains were many kinds of wild ani- 
mals. Sometimes the prairie was crowded with 
herds of black buffalo running in fear; or, again, 
the herds, unfrightened, fed scattered out; so 
that the hills far and near were dotted with their 
dark forms. Among the buffalo were yellow 

189 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

and white antelope — many of them — graceful 
and swift of foot. Feeding on the high prairie 
or going dow^n into the w^ooded river valleys to 
drink were herds of elk, while the willow thick- 
ets, the brushy ravines, and the lower timbered 
foot-hills sheltered deer. The naked Bad Lands, 
the rocky slopes of the mountains, and the tall 
buttes that often rise above the level prairie 
were the refuge of the mountain sheep, which in 
those days, like all the other grass eaters of the 
region, grazed on the prairie and sought the more 
broken, higher country only when alarmed or 
when they w^ished to rest. 

These were the animals which the Blackfeet 
killed for food before the white men came, and 
of these the buffalo w^as the chief. Buffalo, 
more than any other animals, could be captured 
in numbers, and the Blackfeet, like the other 
Indians of the plains, had devised a method for 
taking them, so that when the buffalo were near 
the Blackfeet never suffered from hunger. Yet 
sometimes it happened that the buffalo went 
away, and that the lonely far travelling scouts 
sent out by the tribe could not find them. Then 

190 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

the people had to turn to the smaller animals — 
the elk, deer, antelope, and wild sheep. 

In those old days, before they had horses, they 
did not make long marches when they moved. 
Their only domestic animal was the dog, which 
was used chiefly as a beast of burden, either 
carrying loads on its back or hauling a travois, 
formed by two long sticks crossing above the 
shoulders and dragging on the ground behind. 
Behind the dog these two sticks were united by 
a little platform, on which was lashed some small 
burden — sometimes a little baby. 

In those days, when the people moved from 
one place to another, all who were large enough 
to walk and strong enough to carry a burden on 
the shoulders, were laden. Usually men, women, 
and children alike bore loads suited to their 
strength. Yet sometimes the men carried no 
loads at all, for if journeying through a country 
where they feared that some enemy might at- 
tack them, the men must be ready to fight and 
to defend their wives and children. A man 
cannot fight well if he is carrying a burden; 
he cannot use his arms readily, nor run about 

191 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

lightly — forward to attack, backward in retreat. 
If he is not free to fight well, his family will be 
in danger. White men who have seen Indians 
journeying in this way, and who have not under- 
stood why some women carried heavy loads and 
the men carried nothing, have said that Indian 
men were idle and lazy, and forced their women 
to do all the work. Those who wrote those 
things were mistaken in what they said. They 
did not understand what they saw. The truth 
is that these men were prepared for danger of 
attacks by enemies, and were ready to do their 
best to save their families from harm. 

Carrying on their backs all their property, ex- 
cept the little which the dogs might pack, it is 
evident that the Indians in those days could not 
make long journeys. 

In those days they had no buckets of wood or 
tin in which to carry water. Instead, they used 
a vessel like a bag or sack, made from the soft 
membrane of one of the stomachs of the buffalo. 
This, after it had been cleansed and all the open- 
ings from it save one had been tied up, the 
women filled at the stream with a spoon made of 

192 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

buffalo horn or with a larger ladle of the horn of 
the wild sheep. Because this water-skin was soft 
and flexible, it could not stand on the ground, 
and they hung it up, sometimes on the limb of 
a tree, more often on one of the poles of the 
lodge, or sometimes on a tripod — three sticks 
coming together at the top and standing spread 
out at the ground. 

Most of the meat cooked for the family was 
roasted, yet much of it was boiled, sometimes in 
a bowl of stone, sometimes in a kettle made of a 
fresh hide or of the paunch of the buffalo. 
Sometimes these skin or paunch kettles were 
supported at the sides by stakes stuck in the 
ground, and sometimes a hole dug in the ground 
was lined with the hide, which was so arranged 
as to be water-tight. They were not, as may be 
imagined, put over a fire, but when filled with 
cold water this water was heated in quite an- 
other way. Near by a fire was built, in which 
were thrown large stones, and on top of the 
stones more wood was piled; so that after a 
time, when the wood had burnt down, the 
stones were very hot — sometimes red hot. With 

193 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

two rather short-handled forked sticks, the 
women took from the fire one of the hot stones, 
and put it in the water in the hide kettle, and 
as it cooled, took it out and put in another hot 
stone. Thus the water was soon heated, and 
boiled and cooked whatever was in the kettle. 
To be sure, there were some ashes and a little 
dirt in the soup, but that was not regarded as 
important. 

This was long before the Indians knew of 
matches, or even of flint and steel. In those 
days to make a fire was not easy and it took a 
long time. By his knees or feet a man held in 
position on the ground a piece of soft, dry wood 
in which two or three little hollows had been 
dug out, and taking another slender stick of 
hard wood, and pressing the point in one of the 
little hollows in the stick of soft wood, he twirled 
the stick rapidly between the palms of his 
hands, so fast and so long that presently the 
dust ground from the softer stick, falling to one 
side in a little pile, began to smoke, and at last 
a faint spark was seen at the top of the pile, 
which began to glow, and, spreading, became 

194 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

constantly larger. He, or his companion, for 
often two men twirled the stick, one relieving the 
other, caught this spark in a bit of tinder — per- 
haps some dry punk or a little fine grass — and by 
blowing coaxed it into flame, and there was the 
fire. 

This fire making was hard work, and the peo- 
ple tried to escape this work by keeping a spark 
of fire always alive. To do this, men sometimes 
carried, by a thong slung over the shoulder, the 
hollow tip of a buffalo horn, the opening of 
which was closed by a wooden plug. When 
going on a journey, the man lighted a piece of 
punk, and, placing it in this horn, plugged up 
the open end, so that no air could get into the 
horn. There the punk smouldered for along 
time, and neither went out nor was wholly con- 
sumed. Once in a while during the day the 
man looked at this punk, and, if he saw that it 
was almost consumed, he lighted another piece 
and put it in the horn and replaced the plug. 
So at night when he reached camp the fire was 
still in his horn, and he could readily kindle a 
blaze, and from this blaze other fires were 

195 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

kindled. Often, if the camp was large, the first 
young men who reached it gathered wood and 
perhaps kindled four fires, and after the women 
had reached the camp, unpacked their dogs, and 
put up their lodges, each w^oman would go to 
one of these fires to get a brand or some coals 
with which to start her own lodge fire. 

In warm weather men and boys wore little 
clothing. They went almost naked; yet in cold 
weather each man or woman was most of the 
time wrapped in a warm robe of tanned buffalo 
skin. Even the little children wore robes, the 
smallest ones those taken from the little buffalo 
calves. All their clothing, like their beds and 
their homes, was made of the skins of animals. 
Shirts, women's dresses, leggings, and moccasins 
were made from the tanned skins of buffalo, 
deer, antelope, and mountain sheep. Often the 
moccasins were made from the smoked skin cut 
from the top of an old lodge, for this skin had 
been smoked so much that it never dried hard 
and stiff, after it had been wet. The moccasins 
had a stiff sole of buffalo rawhide; and in the 
bottom of this sole were cut one or two holes, 

196 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

in order that the water might run out if a man 
had to wade through a stream. 

The homes of these Indians were lodges — tents 
made of tanned buffalo skin supported on a 
cone of long, straight, slender poles. At the top 
where the poles crossed was an opening for the 
smoke from the fire built in the centre of the 
circular lodge floor, while about the fire, and 
close under the lodge covering, were the beds 
where the people slept or ate during the day. 

These homes were warm and comfortable. The 
border of the lodge covering did not come down 
quite to the ground, but inside the lodge poles, 
and tied to them, was a long wide strip of tanned 
buffalo skin four or five feet high, and long 
enough to reach around the inside of the lodge, 
almost from one side of the door to the other. 
This strip of tanned skin — made up of several 
pieces — was so wide that one edge rested on the 
floor, and reached inward under the beds and 
seats. Through the open space between the 
lodge covering and the lodge lining, fresh air 
kept passing into the lodge close to the ground 
and up over the lining and down toward the 

197 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

centre of the lodge, and so furnished draught for 
the fire. The lodge lining kept this cold air from 
blowing directly on the occupants of the lodge 
who sat around the fire. Often the lodge lining 
was finely painted with pictures of animals, 
people, and figures of mysterious beings of which 
one might not speak. 

The seats and beds in this home were covered 
with soft tanned buffalo robes, and at the head 
and foot of each bed was an inclined back-rest 
of straight willow twigs, strung together on long 
lines of sinew and supported in an inclined posi- 
tion by a tripod. Buffalo robes often hung over 
these back-rests. In the spaces between the 
back-rests, which though they came together 
at the top were separated at the ground, were 
kept many of the possessions of the family ; the 
pipe, sacks of tobacco, of paint, "possible sacks" 
— parfleches for clothing or food, and many 
smaller articles. 

The outside of the lodge was often painted 
with mysterious figures which the lodge owner 
believed to have power to bring good luck to 
him and to his family. Sometimes these figures 

198 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

represented animals — buffalo, deer, and elk — or 
rocks, mountains, trees, or the puff-balls that 
grow on the prairie. Sometimes a procession 
of ravens, marching one after the other, was 
painted around the circumference of the lodge. 
The painting might show the tracks of animals, 
or a number of water animals, apparently 
chasing each other around the lodge. On either 
side of the smoke hole at the top were two flaps, 
or wings, each one supported by a single pole. 
These were to regulate the draught of the fire 
in case of a change of wind, and the poles were 
moved from side to side, changing as the direc- 
tion of the wind changed. On such wings were 
often painted groups of white disks which rep- 
resented some group of stars. At the back of 
the lodge, high up, just below the place where 
the lodge poles cross, was often a large round 
disk representing the sun, and above that a 
cross, which was the sign of the butterfly, the 
power that they believe brings sleep. From the 
ends of the wings, or tied to the tips of the poles 
which supported them, hung buffalo tails, and 
sometimes running down from one of these poles 

199 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

to the ground near the door was a string of the 
sheaths of buffalo hooflets, which rattled as it 
swung to and fro in the breeze. 

Their arms were the bow and arrow, a short 
spear or lance, with a head of sharpened stone 
or bone, stone hammers with wooden handles, 
and knives made of bone or stone, and if of 
stone, lashed by rawhide or sinew to a split 
wooden handle. 

The hammers were of two sorts: one quite 
heavy, almost like a sledge-hammer or maul, 
and with a short handle; the other much lighter, 
and with a longer, more limber handle. This 
last was used by men in war as a mace or war 
club, while the heavier hammer was used by 
women as an axe to break up fallen trees for 
firewood; as a hammer to drive tent-pins into 
the ground, to kill disabled animals, or to break 
up heavy bones for the marrow they contained. 
These mauls and hammers were usually made 
by choosing an oval stone and pecking a groove 
about its shortest diameter. The handles were 
made by green sticks fitted as closely as possi- 
ble into the groove, brought together and lashed 

200 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

in position by sinew, the whole being then cov- 
ered with wet rawhide tightly fitted and sewed. 
As the rawhide dried, it shrunk and strongly 
bound together the parts of the weapon. 

The Blackfeet bow was about four feet long. 
Its string was of twisted sinew and it was backed 
with sinew. This gave the bow great power, so 
that the arrow went with much force. The 
arrows were straight shoots of the service berry 
or cherry, and the manufacture of arrows was 
the chief employment of many of the men of 
middle life. Each arrow by the same maker 
was precisely like every other arrow he made. 
Each arrowmaker tried hard to make good ar- 
rows. It was a fine thing to be known as a 
maker of good arrows. 

The shoots for the arrow shafts were brought 
into the lodge, peeled, smoothed roughly, tied up 
in bundles, and hung up to dry. After they were 
dried, the bundles were taken down and each 
shaft was smoothed and reduced to a proper 
thickness by the use of a grooved piece of sand- 
stone, which acted on the arrow like sandpaper. 
After they were of the right thickness, they were 

201 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

straightened by bending with the hands, and 
sometimes with the teeth, and were then passed 
through a circular hole drilled in a rib, or in a 
mountain sheep's horn, which acted in part as a 
gauge of the size and also as a smoother, for if 
in passing through the hole the arrow fitted 
tightly, the shaft received a good polish. The 
three grooves which always were found in the 
Blackfeet arrows were made by pushing the 
shaft through a round hole drilled in a rib, 
which, however, had one or more projections 
left on the inside. These projections pressed 
into the soft wood and made the grooves, which 
were in every arrow. The feathers were three 
in number. They were put on with a glue, made 
by boiling scraps of dried rawhide, and were held 
in place by wrappings of sinew. The heads of 
the arrows were made of stone or bone or horn. 
The flint points were often highly worked and 
very beautiful, being broken from larger flints 
by sharp blows of a stone hammer, and after 
they had been shaped the edges were worked 
sharp by flaking with an implement of bone or 
horn. The points made of horn or bone were 

202 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

ground sharp by rubbing on a stone. A notch 
was cut in the end of the arrow shaft and the 
shank of the arrow point set in that. The arrow 
heads were firmly fixed to the shaft by glue and 
by sinew wrapping. 

Although the Blackfeet lived almost alto- 
gether on the flesh of birds or animals, yet they 
had some vegetable food. This was chiefly ber- 
ries — of which in summer the women collected 
great quantities and dried them for winter use — 
and roots, the gathering of which at the proper 
season of the year occupied much of the time 
of women and young girls. These roots were 
unearthed by a long, sharp-pointed stick, called 
a root digger. Some of the roots were eaten 
as soon as collected, while others were dried 
and stored for use in winter. 

After they reached the plains, the main food 
of the Blackfeet was the buffalo, which they 
killed in large numbers when everything went 
right. Many of the streams in the Blackfeet 
country run through wide, deep valleys bordered 
on either side by cliffs, or broken precipices, fall- 
ing sharply from the high prairie above. Long 

203 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

ago the Blackfeet must have learned that it was 
possible to make the buffalo jump over these cliffs, 
and that in the fall on the rocks below numbers 
would be killed or crippled. No doubt after 
this had been practised for a time, there came to 
some one the idea of building at the foot of such 
a cliff where the buffalo were run over, a fence 
which would form a corral or pound, and which 
would hold all the buffalo that were jumped over 
the cliff. This corral they called piskun. 

It is often said that the buffalo were driven 
over these precipices, but this is true only in 
part. Like most wild animals, buffalo are in- 
quisitive. It was not difficult to excite their 
curiosity, and when they saw something they 
did not recognize, they were anxious to find out 
what it was. 

When run into the piskun, the buffalo were 
really drawn by curiosity almost to the jumping 
point, and between two long diverging lines of 
people, who kept hidden until after the buffalo 
had passed them, and then rose and showed 
themselves and tried to frighten the animals. 
Now, to be sure, for the short distance that re- 

204 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

mained between the place where they were 
alarmed and the place where they jumped, the 
buffalo were driven. Any attempt on the open 
prairie to drive buffalo in one direction or an- 
other would be certain to fail. The animals 
would go where they wished to. They would 
not be driven, though often they might be led. 

To the people the capture of food was the 
most important thing in life, and they put forth 
every effort to accomplish it. For this reason 
it came about that the effort to capture buffalo 
was preceded usually by religious ceremonies, 
in which many prayers were offered to the pow- 
ers of the earth, the sky, and the waters, many 
sacrifices made, and sacred objects, like the 
buffalo stone, were displayed. 

When the day for the hunt came, the man 
who was to bring the buffalo left the camp early 
in the morning, climbed the rocky bluffs to the 
high prairie, and journeyed toward some near-by 
herd of buffalo, that had been located the day 
before by himself or by other young men. He 
approached the buffalo as nearly as he could 
without frightening them, and then, attracting 

205 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

the attention of some of the animals by uttering 
certain calls, tossed into the air his buffalo robe 
or some smaller object. As soon as the buffalo 
began to look at him, he retreated slowly in the 
direction of the piskun, but continued to call and 
to attract their attention by showing himself 
and then disappearing. Soon, some of the 
buffalo began to walk toward him, and others 
began to look and to follow those that had first 
started, so that before long the whole herd of 
fifty or a hundred animals might be walking or 
sometimes trotting after him. The more rapidly 
the buffalo came on, the faster the man ran — ■ 
and sometimes it was a hard matter for him to 
keep ahead of the herd — until he had got far 
within the wings and near to the cliff. If there 
seemed danger that he would be overtaken, he 
watched his chance and either at some low 
place quickly dodged out of the line in which 
the buffalo were running, or hid behind one of 
the piles of stones of which the wings were 
formed, or, if he had time, slipped over the 
rocky wall at the valley's edge, so as to get out 
of the way of the approaching herd. 

206 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

As soon as the buffalo had come well within 
the diverging lines of people who w^ere hidden 
behind the piles of stones called wings, those 
whom the buffalo passed rose up from their places 
of concealment, and by yells and shouts and the 
waving of their robes frightened the buffalo, so 
that they quite forgot their curiosity in the 
terror that now replaced it. When the leaders 
reached the brink of the cliff, they could not 
stop. They were pushed over by those behind, 
and most of the buffalo jumped over the cliff. 
Many were crippled or injured by the fall, and 
all were kept within the fence of the piskun 
below. About this fence the people were col- 
lected. The buffalo raced round and round 
within the pen, the young and weak being in- 
jured or killed in the crowding, while above the 
fence men were shooting them with arrows until 
presently all in the pen were dead, or so hurt 
that the women could go into the pen and kill 
them. The people entered and took the flesh 
and hides. 

Deer, elk, and antelope were shot with ar- 
rows, and antelope were often captured in pit- 

207 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

falls roofed with slender poles and covered with 
grass and earth. Such pitfalls were dug in a 
region where antelope were plenty, and a long 
P> shaped pair of wings, made of poles or bushes 
or even rock piles, led to the pit. The antelope 
is very inquisitive and was easily led within the 
chute and there frightened, as were the buffalo, 
by people who had been concealed and who rose 
up and showed themselves after the antelope 
had passed. This was done more in order to 
secure antelope skins for clothing than their 
flesh for food. 

Fish and reptiles were not eaten by the Black- 
feet, nor were dogs, although dogs, wolves, and 
coyotes are eaten by many tribes of plains In- 
dians. Most small animals, and practically all 
birds, were eaten in case of need. In summer, 
when the wildfowl which bred on so many of 
the lakes in the Blackfeet country lost their 
flight-feathers, during the moult, and again in the 
late summer, when the young ducks and geese 
were almost fuUgrown but could not yet fly, 
the Indians often went in large parties to the 
shallow lakes which here and there dotted the 

208 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

prairie, and, driving the birds to shore, killed 
them in large numbers. 

Earlier in the season, when the fowl had be- 
gun to lay their eggs, these were collected in 
great quantities for food. Sometimes they were 
roasted in the hot ashes, but a more common 
way was to dig a deep, narrow hole in the ground 
in which the eggs were to be cooked. Several 
little platforms of small sticks or twigs were 
built in this hole, one above another, and on 
these platforms they put the eggs. Another 
much smaller hole was dug to one side of the 
large hole, slanting down into it. The large 
hole was partly filled with water, and was then 
roofed over by small sticks on which was placed 
grass covered with earth. Stones were heated 
in a fire built near at hand, and then were rolled 
down the side hole into the larger hole, heating 
the water, which at last boiled and steamed, the 
steam cooking the eggs. 

When the Americans first met them on the 
prairie, the Blackfeet were known as great war- 
riors. But up to the time when they got from 
the Hudson Bay traders better weapons than 

209 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

they had before known, whether these were 
metal knives, steel arrow points, or guns, it is 
probable that they did not do much fighting. 
There seems to have been no reason why they 
should have fought, unless they quarrelled about 
small matters with other tribes. It became 
quite different when the Indians procured bet- 
ter arms and, above all, when they got horses — 
a means of swiftly getting about over the coun- 
try, something that all people wanted to have 
and which all were so eager to obtain that they 
would go into danger for them. In the old days 
of stone arrow heads, when they had to travel 
on foot and to carry heavy loads on their backs, 
the whole thought and effort of the tribe must 
have been devoted to the work of procuring a 
supply of food. 

The tribal and family life of the people was 
simple and friendly. The man and his wives 
loved each other and loved their children. Re- 
lationship counted for much in an Indian camp, 
and cousins of remote degree were called brother 
and sister. Children were not punished; they 
were trained by persuasion and advice. They 

210 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

were told by older people how they ought to act 
in order to make their lives happy and success- 
ful and to be well thought of by their fellows. 
Young people had much respect for their elders, 
listened to what they said, and strove more or 
less successfully to follow their teachings. 

The Blackf eet were very religious. They feared 
many natural powders and influences whose work- 
ings they did not understand, and they were 
constantly praying to the Sun — regarded as the 
ruler of the universe — as well as to those other 
powers which they believe live in the stars, the 
earth, the mountains, the animals, and the trees. 
The Blackfoot was constantly afraid that some 
evil thing might happen to him, and he there- 
fore prayed to all the powers for help — for 
good fortune in his undertakings, for health, 
plenty, and long life for himself and all his 
family. 

Among these tribes there are a number of 
secret societies known as the All Comrades or 
All Friends — groups of men of different ages, 
which have been alluded to in the stories. 
Originally there were about twelve of these 

211 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

societies, but a number have been abandoned 
of recent years. 

The tribe was divided into a number of clans, 
all the members of which were believed to be 
related, and in old times no member of a clan 
was permitted to marry another member of the 
clan. Relations might not marry. 

In olden times, when large numbers of peo- 
ple were together, the lodges of the camp were 
pitched in a great circle, the opening toward the 
southeast. In this circle each clan camped in 
its own particular place with relation to the 
other clans. Within the circle was often a 
smaller circle of lodges, each occupied by one 
or more of the societies of the All Comrades. 
Sometimes it happened that great numbers of 
the Blackfeet came together, perhaps even all 
of the three tribes, Blackfeet, Bloods, and Pic- 
gans. When this was the case, each tribe 
camped by itself with its own circle, no matter 
how near it might be to one or other of the 
tribal circles. 

We read of some tribes of Indians whicli be- 
lieved that after death the spirits of the dc- 

212 



THE ANCIENT BLACKFEET 

parted went to a happy hunting ground where 
game was always plenty and life was full of 
joy. The Blackfeet knew no such place as this. 
When they died their spirits were believed to 
go to a barren, sandy region south of the Sas- 
katchewan, which they called the Sand Hills. 
Here, as shadows, the ghosts lived a life much like 
their existence before death, but all was unreal- 
unsubstantial. Riding on shadow horses they 
hunted shadow buffalo. They Hved in shadow 
camps and when they moved shadow dogs hauled 
their travois. There are stories which tell that 
living people have seen these hunters, their 
houses, and their implements of the camp, but 
when the people got close they found that what 
they thought they had seen was something dif- 
ferent. It reminds us a little of the old ballad 
of Alice Brand, where Urgan tells of the things 
seen in fairy-land : 

" And gayly shines the Fairy-land— 
But all is glistening show, 
Like the idle gleam that December's beam 
Can dart on ice and snow. 

" And fading, like that varied gleam, 
Is our inconstant shape, 

213 



BLACKFEET INDIAN STORIES 

Who now like knight and lady seem. 
And now like dwarf and ape." 

Books have been written about the Blackfeet 
Indians which tell much more about how they 
Hved than can be given here. 



END 



214 



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